Halloween weekend

[quislibet]

J. and I wrote off Friday and worked on costumes and braved Salem foot traffic to get necessary objects. She ended up finding just the right ingredients to dress like Uma's character in "Kill Bill" (not that we've seen the movie yet). She looks odd as a blonde. I was Medusa, although not as successfully. Needed more snakes, but there were few to be had.

Some friends came up to do the regular Salem Halloween thing, and had dinner at our place; we did not accompany them out into the night. Instead we watched a Jet Li flick and then put on our costumes and walked to the party. Some people we passed thought I was supposed to be Jesus. Must have been the snakes, the breasts, and the painted sharpened fingernails. If only I had had more snakes.

The party itself seems as though it should have been fun, but I felt detached from it. Probably I'm just old. At any rate J.'s costume was well received, and I did enjoy interacting with some of you as real people.

Yesterday morning we went to the local Target and, to our delight, managed to claim excellent cardboard Halloween decorations they were going to throw out. We now have the option of doing the downstairs bathroom in a black pseudo-Victorian wallpaper decorated with leaves, bats and spiders, and that is a good thing.

Then we studied, and went to the Y, and took an evening walk around town in the 70-degree weather. Because it was a Saturday, it wasn't the usual deadness of Salem on November 1st; there were just enough people walking around and enjoying themselves to make it seem like a real place. I expect the desertion of the streets hit today, although I haven't been outside.

I wonder how many businesses will close as of today or tomorrow. There are always a few. Some are temporary, opening in the summer and never meant to last beyond Halloween; others realize they are in trouble and decide to scrape by until the end of the tourist season, and then vanish forever.

Now Salem returns to hibernation until around May. We'll try the new Indian restaurant that timed their grand opening for last week, and then we'll have exhausted what excitement the town has to offer throughout the winter.

[Insert my annual lame joke about "witch city becomes ghost town."]

Here in our home, though, today is pretty good. It's a fresh bread day, for one thing.


P.S. I forgot to mention that we had a massive number of trick-or-treaters, growing progressively ruder as Friday evening wore on, and, when that had died down, one European tourist woman who asked to use our bathroom.

Comments

[brigid.livejournal.com]

i felt the same at the party actually, though i chalked it up to being cranky about my foot. i also did not get to talk to you :/

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

That's one problem with big parties for people like me who don't get out much: suddenly everyone I haven't seen for a while is available to talk to, but I end up not really being able to move around, or if I do, conversations are over quickly as people circulate to make contact with as many folks as possible.

Alas.

[labyrinthman.livejournal.com]

And here I thought that only canadian towns suffered the winter "Lets get the hell out of here" feeling. Not that Calgary becomes a ghost town, but I've certainly been in many places that have become nigh on deserted once winter hits.

(unless one is rich and can ski, or do the snowmobiliing thing. Most people I know don't have that sort of account balance.)

Rude trick or treaters fascinate me. Its not the sort of thing we see here. After all, the average trick or treating age around here is about 6-8 years old. That and the cold tends to sap any mean spirited feelings, I would guess.

[greenelephant.livejournal.com]

Not that Calgary becomes a ghost town

No, it's just that everyone hibernates inside the malls (oh wait, that city's a little further north ;-)

[labyrinthman.livejournal.com]

That would explain our odd addiction to muzak and 2 for 1 deals...

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

The trick-or-treaters started out young and shy, and by the time we quit they were all getting to be rather older. J. decided to call it quits when one "tween" girl looked at the candy bowl which we offered for the purpose of choosing a particular kind of candy, but the girl took the opportunity to start shoveling handsful into her bag.

Salem dies in the winter because really all it has going for it is witch tourism. It's not that people leave town, but that no one else much goes to it. The people that live there commute into Boston for work during the day and stay home at night, and the stores all close at 5 PM.

Of course to belie my words somewhat a group of people I know are coming up next weekend to visit the good art museum, but still.

[subatomicsatan.livejournal.com]

one European tourist woman who asked to use our bathroom.

did you allow her to use it?

[quislibet.livejournal.com]

We did, in fact, more out of surprise than anything else, explaining to her that she had to rubber-band the door to the toilet-paper hlder because the latch doesn't work.