What Are You Going As?

I can't remember the last time I dressed up for Halloween. I think it was probably in high school--for a school dance. I dressed as a "bum," which turned out to be sort of ... predictive. But I think I won a prize. I wore a pair of baggy jeans (probably my dad's), one of his old flannel shirts (stuffed with a pillow), and an old pirate mask I'd used another year--complete with eye patch and sneer. I must've worn a hat, too--but I can't remember what it was. I do remember that people didn't know who I was--generally, a good thing in life, right?

In earlier boyhood I'd gone as a pirate (see above), a cowboy (my favorite), but I can't remember any others. I probably did the cowboy year after year after year, for a cowboy, you see, is what I desperately wanted to be back in those days. There were many cowboy shows on TV; cowboy movies were a staple at the theaters; I was living in Oklahoma (and Texas for a couple of years)--definitely Cowboy Country. And now and then our family drove to Oregon (where Dad was from), traversing the very land I often saw on cowboy TV shows. I would stare out the window ... imagine.

I also do not remember when I quit trick-or-treating. Probably in high school--for it's in high school that you realize that, you know, you're (almost) an adult. Time to put away childish things.

Later, while I was teaching middle school in Aurora, Ohio, we sometimes had costume days at school. Kids would dress up--as did quite a few of the teachers. I never did. When the kids would ask me, What are you supposed to be? I would reply, A boring middle-school English teacher. No kid ever said, You're not supposed to dress up as yourself, but I'm sure a lot of them were thinking that very thing.

Our own little boy (now 47) loved Halloween and went as a cowboy (!), a fireman (see pic below), Luke Skywalker, and about every other thing you can imagine. (And, yes, we "stole" some of his candy.)

His own sons (14 and 10) are coming over tomorrow night. The younger one, Carson, loves Halloween as much as his dad used to. I've seen him as the Headless Horseman, a costume I really liked because I used to teach that story. The older one, Logan, also likes Halloween, though I'm not sure what he'll do this year. He just started his freshman year in high school, so ... will he be like his grandfather (whom he calls "Silly Papa") and eschew the costume--or will he give it one more whirl.

We'll find out tomorrow night.

Last year we had an adventure on Halloween. Earlier in the day we had noticed a deer was lying down in our back yard, in the very back corner by the fence. Hiding? Sick? Occasionally, she would rise, but not for long. Back down she'd go. She stayed there all day, and as evening (and trick-or-treating) approached, we began to get nervous. What if she ran out among a group of little kids? What if she sprinted across the street and got hit by a car?

So I slowly moved into the back yard, calmly. I was hoping to see her rise and trot off sedately into safety (for everyone). But I reached, I guess, her Magic Line--the one separating Stay and Get the Hell Out!--and she leapt to her feet, and with the speed of a superhero(ine), she ran out toward the street, did not stop to look both ways (no cars, thank goodness), crossed into a neighbor's yard, soared over his fence like an Olympic athlete, and disappeared into our past.

Whew.

Tomorrow night, we're hoping, will be calmer. We've seen no doe in the back yard--though the weather is threatening--perhaps even some snow flurries.

That bites, I just heard Dracula say.