Final Word: Carve out some restraint this Halloween

• Spending on Halloween is going crazy once again
• Americans buy 1.1 billion pounds of pumpkins, and trick-or-treaters will eat 1.2 pounds of candy each
• None of that candy will come from Craig Wilson's house, where the treats are pretzels

Most everyone knows by now that Halloween has gotten out of hand. No longer is it a cute little visit-the-neighbors-for-a-treat kind of holiday. The statistics are staggering.

An estimated 41 million people are expected to trick-or-treat next week, visiting 85 million homes. And in the end, they will each eat 1.2 pounds of candy.

On top of that, a record $370 million will be spent on costumes for pets (no comment); $1 billion on costumes for kids (perfectly fine); and some $1.2 billion on costumes for adults (spooky in itself).

But the statistic that impressed me most was that 1.1 billion pounds of pumpkins will be lugged home and put on display for the holiday.

I'm not surprised. Half of them are already on my block.

It appears that most of my neighbors do not subscribe to the "less is more" theory of design, especially when it comes to pumpkins.

They have pumpkins cascading down their front steps. They have pumpkins on every window sill. They have pumpkins in their plants, where they join stuffed scarecrows sporting straw hair with orange highlights.

No solitary jack-o'-lantern for these people.

Again, I shouldn't be surprised. This year's Halloween extravaganza follows a summer of excess. Plants in huge pots. Trees in boxes. Lemon trees even. And now mums. Can't have Halloween without mums. Or gourds in every shape and color.

I shouldn't complain. They could be displaying a rusted car on blocks out front. Or worse, a sofa. But still. I feel like I'm living at a garden center, and this week, that garden center is celebrating Halloween. Boo!

I like to think there's a certain beauty in restraint. We have two window boxes that still boast plump red geraniums, remnants of a summer past.

But who tricks and treats at houses with red geraniums? No one. And maybe that's just as well.

Adding to our restraint, we give out pretzels on Halloween. Yes. I said pretzels. A healthy snack. I'm embarrassed by this, but I live with an epidemiologist who knows too much about what's good for you, even though I tell him no one wants a pretzel on Halloween.

Anyone wandering my street next Wednesday would be wise to follow Dionne Warwick's advice from years ago. "Walk on by ..."

Visit the pumpkin people. I suspect they have real candy.

E-mail cwilson@usatoday.com