Grackle-tastic on Halloween in Waco

By Wendy Gragg

I know Halloween is over and we've moved on to Christmas (it feels like), but I can't let the season go by without telling you about my costume this year.

My plan for Halloween was to be "your mom." Because I love to say "your mom" to people. Forgive me, it's one of those annoying personality quirks that my friends and co-workers just put up with.

But then, out of nowhere, someone said to me, "Why don't you be a grackle?" And I knew instantly that was what I had to be.

I found a birdish-type mask at Target that I thought was perfect for a grackle (but reminded some people of a mask from that horrible Tom Cruise movie "Eyes Wide Shut," which made me gag a little). But the best part of my costume, easily, was the cardboard sign I made and hung around my neck which said, "HEB parking lot or BUST."

Perhaps grackles aren't scary, but they are eerily forboding when they start flocking in force this time of year. The Trib even awarded me the "Nightmare on Wooded Acres Drive" award for my costume Monday.

Also, I've been talking a lot about grackles lately, including promising to cage, capture and gift a grackle to a friend who helped me with a story conundrum. I received lots of help, but my friend refused the gift of a grackle. Go figure.

I know grackles aren't exclusive to Waco, but mention them around any other Wacoan, and you'll elicit the same groan and eyeroll. They are the scourge of our cooler weather HEB parking lot.

Who remembers that year the Trib printed a piece of Waco-centric wrapping paper on Christmas Eve? It was covered in grackles wearing Santa hats. In a word — awesome.

I saw some good costumes this year, including Occupy Wall Street protesters and my 2-year-old nephew as the cutest Woody (Toy Story) ever. But I'm going to go ahead and be totally self-involved and egotistical and admit that my grackle was my favorite.

Did you see any Waco-centric costumes this year?

      Email    Print