So last night Mike and Loni had a party, and Wifey and I attended and had fun. We laughed and reminisced with old friends, and ate Big Cheese lasagna and ziti. And then D2, who was in Midtown with Jonathan, sent some happy news: Foxe's is reopening! A girl at the party was working on it. Ah, as the Boss sang, maybe everything that dies someday comes back...
D1 was over earlier, and the Little Man has hand, foot, and mouth disease -- the common illness spreading through preschools. He was fine -- we took him on a walk to watch Betsy the enormous puppy romp with Jagger, her best friend. But still, no trick or treating for the young man -- the disease, though mild, is extremely contagious, and he'll have to skip this year.
Of course, it triggered a memory of a Halloween when I was about 9. I had the flu, and couldn't go out, so my dear Mom gave my neighbor Leigh Ellen a plastic pumpkin that said "David is sick -- trick or treat." I still got to enjoy candy later that night, and thanked Leigh profusely -- I may have even given her my Reese's Peanut Butter Cups -- my favorite.
Last year we were closed down on account of the plague. This year we bought candy, and I just put out the stuffed Frankenstein monster and his friend the friendly ghost.
I had fun with the ghost this am -- popped him outside of D2 and Jonathan's door, and it startled Jonathan -- the thing is the size of a small child.
As of now, the pair, older than D2, will great any trick or treaters we get this year. There are many new kids in the 'hood and the weather is fine -- I assume we'll get a bunch.
My friend Rita recalled a great memory -- she and Mark and Wifey and I attended Fantasy Fest in Key West -- probably 1986 or so. Mark was there for the first one, in '79 when he was a student at Florida Keys College, and always wanted to return. So we did, and Wifey bought me a Monk's costume. The problem was, the cassock was a plastic bag, and as I strolled down Duval Street, everyone who saw me sang the garbage bag song: "Hefty Hefty Hefty..." We loved it.
I recall that year so well -- the gays do Halloween correctly. Several pregnant brides, nuns, and Girl Scouts, and in homage of the times, a lot of Bernhard Goetz costumes. He was the dude who shot the would be muggers on the subway, and there were many folks with screwdrivers "attacking" the nerdy Goetz. It was all in good fun.
Speaking of Key West: we're set to go in a few weeks. My friend Kenny joins the 60 club near T Day, and his wife Joelle has a birthday the week before, so I scored some tickets to John Fogarty, and we're off to one of my favorite places. I'll play them Dylan's latest song about the magical place as we drive on the Overseas Highway: Key West is on the horizon line...
The Ds were laughing yesterday about the year Wifey proclaimed "I'm not in the mood for Halloween this year," as if her desires would stop the kids from trick or treating. Wifey is often very funny without realizing it.
Looking back, sheer luck on a Halloween is the reason I'm still here. When my friends and I were 13 or so, and restless and bored, we would store up rotten eggs and, like suburban marauders, egg the houses of people who annoyed us.
One night, as we walked down a street in Seaford, a Nassau County cop was coming up the street. Everyone hid their eggs. I spotted a lamp post plate missing from a base, and unloaded my dozen or so there. The cop stopped, got out of the car, and patted us all down -- the clever method of checking for eggs. We passed, and I'm sure I gave the fellow my best Eddie Haskell "Stay safe, Officer. We appreciate all you do for we citizens of Levittown..."
When he was out of sight, I stuck my hand in the lamp post base to retrieve the eggs, and got a shock so powerful it literally knocked me back 5 feet, right onto my ass. It was a miracle, and probably thanks to my rubber sneakers, that I wasn't killed right there. I lived to egg another day.
Looking back -- how immature that was. And yet, fast forward to 1997 or so. My friend Steve the cop told me a fellow Leewood parent talked smack about me, and so we two mid 30s Dads, one a cop, and one a lawyer, went to her house and bombarded it with eggs. The Ds were incredulous when I admitted this to them years later. Hey -- Mellencamp advised we hold onto 16 as long as we can...
So no eggs this year. Maybe Jonathan and I will have a few adult beverages as we give out candy. Or if he's busy, I'll drink tea and do it alone.
Happy Halloween, past Dave and current Dave...
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