HIBK

As a lifelong fan of the classic whodunit, I have periodically encountered the sub-genre of mystery referred to as "Had I But Known (HIBK)". In this type of mystery, the central character does (or doesn't do) things that inadvertently delay the discovery of the murderer, only to lament at the end of the story, "Had I but known then what I know now, poor Aunt Tilly's life would have been spared . . . ".

And I've recently discovered that this HIBK lament can also be applied to Halloween props.

I've been busily creating flowers for this year's garden theme. And I've been feeling quite pleased with myself for making use of unwanted and recycled objects in their construction. I was particularly pleased that one of the foam camping mats I converted into flower petals was, coincidentally, orange. Already the perfect colour. No painting required. A time-saving stroke of luck. So I assembled several of these orange-petaled flowers and attached the jack-o-lantern mask centres and the green wooden "stems".

And then I stood back to survey the results. And suddenly, I was no longer happy with the orange petals. In fact, they looked sort of . . . bland. Not enough contrast with their orange centres. Not vibrant enough. Especially next to their purple-petaled brethren. I then thought a little black paint might be just the thing required. Not much. Just a subtle blend of orange and black. To give them more personality.

But no. I remained displeased with my efforts. And since I had the black paint out anyway, I added more. And more. Until entire petals were black. It certainly provided enough contrast. And I actually liked it. And now we come to the HIBK lament. Had I But Known, I would have painted the orange foam black at the beginning of the project and saved myself the time and aggravation of painting around the already-attached flower parts.

Ah well . . . still 19 days until Halloween.