halloween, 2009

Our Halloween was brief. I felt like a refugee from another era, dressed in the kind of clothes I used to wear in earlier times when we lived in Wyoming. My Tony Lama boots, which I used to wear daily, were so stiff, they actually were hurting my feet, so I had to go for some shoes that sort of resemble moccasins...made of elk skin. When the subject came up about chewing the leather to make it softer, I realized what a non-starter that topic was, and changed the subject. It made for a more pleasant evening.


Susan and I went to a house with Magdalena and Eddie (a fine guitarist from Uruguay and her husband Eddie who is not only a violinist but a violin maker from Cremona, Italy, where the Stradavari's and Amati's were created so many years ago) that 2 weeks before had been a moldy foreclosure and was now rejuvenated and painted and ready for a new life. It made me feel quite useful in the grand scheme of things, actually. What's more, I managed to get through the night having only had two pieces of candy...a record for me. There was a Paraguayan paella which was mighty good and loads of Sangria. There were two little ones there also, one who seemed to be afflicted with St. Vitus dance, but was probably just on a massive sugar high.
I was pleased to have helped them to get this house. There had been 12 offers and we prevailed, I am happy to report. The steps to successs were a little convoluted and funny so I might have time another day to put them on this blog. The lady at the courthouse said her name was 369. I loved that. It had a ring of 1984 in 2009.

Our neighborhood was awash in the little people. As I stood so lordly on my front stoop with a huge bowl full of candy, I was tempted to say to them, like the Grinch might have said, "Go home to your parents and tell them not to train you to beg." But they were too amazingly fun for me to be so unhospitable. We probably had 50 little rascals in the early part of the evening. All of the costumes that had rubber masks had come off by the time they made it to our doorstep, with the exception of the kid in the George W. Bush mask.

Tim