Politics, Halloween, and the Texas Renaissance Festival

This is what you get when you cross Halloween 

with the Texas Renaissance Festival. There were 

an abundance of spooky costumes at the festival 

last weekend. (Photo by Joe Southern)

Happy Halloween everyone!

Here’s a scary thought. I’m going to talk about politics again, but only briefly. A few weeks ago I wrote a column titled “It’s time for this red state to bleed a little blue.” There are a couple things about that column that I need to update and clarify.

If you recall, I went on a little rant about how none of our Republican elected officials – with the exception of Rep. Pete Olson – would respond to my wife’s request to present her healthcare plan. Her meeting with Olson appeared to be forgotten as it happened on the day Hurricane Harvey hit.

As it turns out, all the notes taken by a field representative from his district office were not passed on after the staffer left a short time after the hurricane. Immediately after my column ran we were contacted by Olson’s office and Sandy was able to re-present her plan, which was well received. They also promised to help her contact our senators and other state officials. Thank you Pete Olson and Christian Bionat for having the integrity and willingness to make things right.

Secondly, there were a lot of people who didn’t understand how I could be upset with Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign but still vote for him. It’s simple. I agree with him politically. We are both pro-life, pro-gun, pro-Constitution conservatives. What I don’t like is his demeanor and his bombastic, negative campaigning. In the time since I wrote that column, Beto O’Rourke has started mud-slinging, making his tactics no better than Cruz’s.

Now, on to better things.

Assuming you’re reading this on the day of publication, it’s Halloween. I hope everyone out there is having a fun and safe celebration. We are at the awkward stage of life where we still have kids at home but they are too old to go trick-or-treating. For my kids, Halloween was very different than what I experienced as a child. Back in the day, we planned our costumes for weeks and the excitement built up for what seemed like forever.

When the day came, we got to put on our costumes and parade around the elementary school and enjoy class parties. Then, as evening came, we got to put the costumes back on and Mom would lead us around the neighborhood so we could get candy from all of our neighbors. It was a lot of fun.

My kiddos did get to do that to a certain extent. For the most part, their Halloweens were spent at Trunk-or-Treat or Pumpkin Patch parties put on by churches. As the kids got older they moved on from participant to volunteer, helping run carnival games and passing out candy.

Last weekend we had what will probably be the closest thing we will have to Halloween. On Saturday, Colton, my youngest son, and I helped our church run a carnival at Pecan Grove’s Trunk-or-Treat event. On Sunday we went to the Texas Renaissance Festival where the theme was All Hallows Eve. We got to spend a brief time with my wife and older two sons who are working another season at TRF.

It was fun to see some of the crazy costumes. The weekend at the Texas Renaissance Festival was definitely one big Halloween party. I saw everything from Darth Vader to Wonder Woman to giant space aliens. What any of those things have to do with the renaissance, I’ll never know. Nor can I complain. Last year during the Heroes and Villains weekend I went in my Lone Ranger costume.

The Texas Renaissance Festival takes place every weekend in October and November. Each weekend has a different theme but pretty much the same raucous good time. Up this weekend is the Roman Bacchanal, followed by Heroes and Villains, Highland Fling, and Celtic Christmas. The latter is three days from Friday through Sunday after Thanksgiving and sets the mood for the Christmas season.

If you go, be aware that the roads around Magnolia are still under construction and traffic will be a nightmare during peak times. If you like to camp, I recommend staying at the TRF campground. Not only do you avoid a lot of the traffic, but you can get an early start on the next day. It’s only fair to note that there really isn’t a quiet place to camp. Parties can go on all night and the music blasting from TRF After Dark pulsates through the “quiet” part of the campground. Still, if you’ve spent all day Saturday on your feet in the heat, getting some sleep won’t be a problem.

There is plenty to see and do at the Texas Renaissance Festival. I’m partial to the jousts. There are musical and comedy acts, stage plays, games, shops, food vendors, costumed characters and more. It’s one of the few places where you can buy armor, swords, corsets, dragon eggs, and a wide variety of renaissance period and fantasy and adventure clothing. You can even get a wax casting of your hand.

If you go, I recommend trying Ye Old Time Photo Shoppe (say hi to Sandy for me) or going to Sherwood Forest and shooting some crossbows or longbows (say hi to Luke and Wesley for me).

Another bonus to spending a fun-filled, family weekend at the Texas Renaissance Festival is that you can avoid politics for a day or two. Oh, wait, I did see a guy in a Trump mask Sunday, but that doesn’t count.

What does count is your vote. As long as I’ve come back around to politics, the best advice I have is to get out and vote. It doesn’t matter if you’re Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green, or just plain unaffiliated. Your vote doesn’t count if you don’t use it. My vote will count, will yours?