A couple weeks ago my son wanted to check out the Halloween Express pumpkin "dome" at State Fair Park and, especially, the advertising blimp next to it.

So, last week when we heard the giant inflatable pumpkin of a Halloween shop had been deflated by a nocturnal slasher, we were both quite alarmed.

I immediately had a vision of a sad-faced, deflated pumpkin on the outside, and the aisles of costumes and Halloween decorations inside, draped in saggy orange fabric like, perhaps, Elton John's childhood memories in an outbuilding at one of his dozen estates, lying sad and lonely.

The morning that we heard about this horrific holiday attack, my son tried to get his mom to drive past and check it out, but she hadn't heard and didn't understand what he was talking about -- "Popped pumpkin?".

But I knew because we had heard the news together, so in the car later in the day, ready to be shocked, we drove past to view the carnage and were pleasantly surprised to see the pumpkin was alive and breathing again, albeit with a fence around it now. We just hope they catch the miscreant(s) that committed the devilish act.

Turns out the Halloween Express staff worked long and hard and fast to get the pumpkin repaired, re-inflated and ready to open as soon as possible. Now that's the kind of Halloween spirit that should unite this country as we move into the new ... oh wait, that's for my Election Day blog. Sorry.