This time of year, two things always happen in close proximity: Halloween and Election Day.

Spin Control will spare you the speculation of which is scarier at your door, little kids looking for candy or politicians looking for your vote.

But the closeness of the two events -- they are never more than eight days apart -- means you should do one thing right now.

Pull your yard signs out of the sod, the flower bed or the gravelly right away, and put them away for 24 hours.

They are just too tempting for the slightly larger goblins, the teens and the tweens, to pass up as they swing through the neighborhood tonight. It's Friday night, and they're likely to be out later than when Halloween falls on a weeknight.

Those thin plastic ones might not fade in the sunlight, but they won't withstand a rock or a sharp stick. The wooden stakes will be broken, the metal stakes will be bent.

And there's nothing that anyone's going to be able to do about it. Maybe you were hoping to save the sign as a memento of that historic campaign, just like grandpa's I Like Ike sign or Dad's McGovern-Eagleton sign.

Save yourself the grief, and the hassle of calling your favored candidates and trying to beg for another sign in the last few days of the campaign. Take your sign down and put it some place safe.

Do it now.

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