October is one of my favorite months of the year, and has been since long before it became LGBT History Month. Or because it includes National Coming Out Day. Or even Spirit Day.

By this point you’re probably expecting me to start going on about Halloween. Don’t get me wrong, I love Halloween. I love handing out candy. I love seeing other people all dressed up. I like dressing up, but have never been as good at it as I wish I was, so I have kind of a love-ambivalent relationship with that.

No, the real reason I love October is related to the fact that it is Halloween, but not because of Halloween per se. The real reason is because October is the beginning of Decorating Season!!!

I start decorating the house for Halloween in October. Once Halloween is over, I switch to Harvest/Thanksgiving Decorations, which is just a prelude to the big event: Christmas! We put up a tree with way more lights than you would believe will fit on one tree. We put lights in the windows. I make wreaths (plural) for the front door, and so on, and so on.

And it all starts now!