Rose is Rose by Don Wimmer and Pat Brady for October 27, 2013

Woo-hoo! Tacky grandmabrag alert – last night the creator of my avatar (who drew it on the computer shortly before or after her sixth birthday – she’s eleven now) won first prize for the best costume among the oldest age group at the annual Halloween skate at our village Lions Club hall (Wisconsin). She wore a black capelike thing, a silly chicken head, and sunglasses. As a pièce de résistance, she carried a fake foot with bloody ankle that she’d gotten at a Dollar Tree the previous week. The foot was a big hit with the younger kiddies, who kept touching it, and a younger boy who fought it with his light saber. (She has assured me that the thing won’t turn her into a mass murderer.)