Boo

 Today is Halloween, and we'll be staying home for the first time in years -- D1 is taking the boys to a Shores trick or treat street and party afterwards, and since we just saw them, we're taking a break.

Probably before we moved here, in 2000, Wifey bought a fabric 5 foot tall Frankenstein's monster, and we put him out every year, along with his free standing friend Caspar the Ghost. They spend most of the year in an AC closet, and last night I took them out and put them on the bottom of the stairs -- Wifey got a startle when she came up. Before dark, I'll place them by the front gate, and we'll see if we get trick or treaters.

Some years, we got 50-100, if a local family hosted a party. The numbers have dropped -- the past half decade we just left out a bowl with candy and half was taken in our absence. We'll see -- but we were blessed with a cold front -- 60s tonight! It seems every 5 years or so the weather breaks now, as opposed to later in November.

I nearly died as a kid on Halloween. My idiot friends and I would go "egging" -- tossing them onto houses of neighbors we disliked, and also shaving cream girls from our class. I think I was 9 or so, and we were walking down a street, and Mark, I think, saw a Nassau County cop coming near. We had eggs in our pockets, and the cops would stop and pat us down, breaking any eggs there, and so we all said "Hide the eggs!" I spotted a streetlight with an open base panel, and stashed my half dozen there. Sure enough, the cops stopped, lined us up, and patted our pockets. "Nothing to see here," wise guy Eric said. The cops said "Youse stay out of trouble," and drove off. I went to fetch my eggs, stuck my hand into the base of the streetlight, and got shocked so badly I was thrown back a good 5 feet. I never forgot the feeling, or the miracle (and probably dry ground and my rubber sneakers) kept me alive.

Years later, I wondered if my parents would have known to sue over a dumbass dead son. Luckily that never came to pass.

Hopefully my grandsons are smarter. They're also of the generation almost NEVER left alone -- which is bad and good.

In 2005, Hurricane Wilma hit us right before Halloween. We just had trees down and loosened roof tiles, but knew we would be without power for awhile. Wifey took the Ds and flew to Atlanta -- D1 knew friend there but D2 didn't -- so one daughter had a great Halloween and the other was miserable. My neighbor Pat's wife Susan took their kids to Orlando, and Pat and I roughed it -- it was indeed beautiful weather after the late season cyclone had passed.

Pat invited me to his club, Riviera CC, and when the Gables curfew closed them, we'd retire to Fox's. The nights would end on either of our porches, drinking Middleton beside the fire, comparing our childhoods (Jewish on LI; Irish Catholic in Pittsburgh) and then college days (UM and UF). It was a lovely Halloween time, now 2 decades past.

A lot sure happened over the years, I say in classic cliched understatement. My memories go from childhood through grandfatherhood.

Our fabric Frankenstein' monster is sitting on a bench by the front door, awaiting his placement on a folding chair for the evening. Hopefully many lovely memories for the local kids are made tonight.