My cousin Wuerhosaurus got on his slow boat and floated forthrightly, albeit slowly, home to Tibet in early October leaving me no guests to entertain or, at the moment, anywhere to go.

I had no lawn work to do, since my cousin had maintained my yard over the summer while I was in Kentucky. I needed to let the forest around me grow given how much my cousin and I had eaten during his visit. So, I rested my claws and caught some sun outside my cave while I thought about what to do. Thinking takes a while when you have a brain the size of a walnut, so it was October 30th before I decided what to do.

I have seen about this time of year when I visit the areas populated by mammals small mammal children dressed up in unusual costumes, some very outlandish, even a few that look like me.

They go from building to building gathering candies and trinkets in the early part of the evening.

It seems to be some part of an ancient ritual the mammals call Halloween. I don't care too much for sweets; I only have 64 teeth, and even though they grow back no matter how many times I might lose one, I still want to be cautious and take care of my teeth so I wouldn't eat chocolates but I wouldn't mind dressing up and wandering around downtown Boulder to see if any one recognizes me as a Stegosaurus or under my disguise. So the next step is to decide what I could disguise myself as.

My epiphany on this matter occurred when I considered what my father, Othneil Charles Marsh thought of the placement of my spiff, sexy plates when I was first discovered in the year 1877.

His initial thought was that they naturally lay flat upon my back, so that they looked like roof shingles.

All these years later, it gives some mammals the impression that I am a giant turtle.

Well, now, I wonder, could I make a convincing turtle? There was only one way to find out. I flattened my spiff, sexy plates over my back so in my mind at least, they looked like the shell of a turtle. Once this was accomplished, I set out to find a group of small mammal children on the evening of October 31st. I stomped forthrightly in the way I thought a turtle would stomp if the turtle weighed 6 tons and was 9 feet tall and 30 feet long. When I found the areas where mammals live, I happened upon three small mammal children. One shambling along behind his friends hunched over, a second dressed as what appeared a kind of soldier, and a third was dressed up as …... I think it was …. me.

“Look!” exclaimed the hunched over mammal child. “It's a Stegosaurus!”

The mammal children were amazed as I stomped up to them. The mammal child disguised as me was particularly excited.

“Ah no,” said Stegosaurus, “Can you not tell? I am a turtle! What are you?”

“I am a Hunchback!” said the hunched over mammal child.

“I am a Roman Centurion!” said the mammal child dressed as a soldier.

“I am YOU!” exclaimed the third mammal child who was, indeed dressed as me.

“I am a turtle!” Said Stegosaurus; “Do you think I make a convincing turtle?”

The mammal children were torn between being honest, and not wanting to hurt my feelings, I could see, by their hesitation and reaction to my question. Maybe I wasn't a convincing turtle, but was going to have fun anyway. I quickly changed the subject. I asked them, “What do you each have in the buckets you are carrying with you?”

“I have a Milky Way bar,” said the Roman Centurion.

“I have a peanut butter cup,” said the Hunchback.

“I have string cheese,” said the mammal child dressed as myself.

“Can we have a ride?” he asked.

“You can,” said Stegosaurus; “But tonight the rule is you have to pretend I am a turtle!”

The mammal children heartily agreed, and we had an evening of great fun, going from house to house and collecting candies for them. One very nice elderly mammal saw that I was not fond of candies and gave me a nice meal of aloe plants. In return, I ate the grass in her yard, which needed trimming.

When we had visited all of the nearby mammal homes, I announced my plan to return to my home cave and let the mammal children off of my back.

We parted most cheerfully, and I promised to return and visit again another day.

I returned to my home cave delighted with my evening adventure; I had a great time, but I think in the future I need to work on a more convincing turtle costume.