Snowtober, part 1
What a wacky few weeks it has been. Here I am, three weeks after my last blog post, thinking about how I wanted to blog every day but not finding the time nor the energy. But here I am.
Halloween was going to be fun this year. The parade in Collinsville, some house parties, maybe even a ballroom party at a hotel. All of that, wiped out by the snowstorm on Oct. 29.
That morning Rosemary and I did have a little Halloween. We got dressed up and went to the festivities in town, which basically meant tons of parents and kids. Lots of little kids and strollers and stuff, too. It was bitterly cold, but a lot of people came out anyway, meeting by the Whole Foods and then parading through Blue Back Square as stores gave out candy.
Rosemary and I wore some pretty rad costumes that day. She was Pretty Kitty, wearing a cat's-head mask, pretty dress, gloves and a vintage fur stole. I was Lord Kimono Assassin, with a domino mask, kimono and my laser pistol.
Mike and Virginia came with their son Charlie. He was dressed up as a cute little firefighter, which was great because he got to visit the fire truck parked at the event. Virginia got in on the Halloween act, dressed as a scarecrow.
With Charlie aboard, Rosemary and me were kept from looking like total creepers. We like going out and we like kids, but in this world people may not take too kindly to single adults out at so-called kids' stuff even if it's a town event such as this. Rosemary brought candy to hand out to kids, and overall people let her do it. She did get stranger-dangered by one parent, but such is life. For the most part we were welcomed and people dug out costumes.
The snow started to fall by the time we finished lunch at The Counter with Mike, Virginia and Charlie. Rosemary and I went into Barnes & Noble and ended up meeting author Kyle Darcy, who was signing copies of his latest novel, Under Current Conditions. We spent a good while talking with him and his wife, very nice people.
As we drove home, the snow was falling heavily. We sequestered ourselves in the apartment and watched a bunch of TV. Once we knew for sure our night's plans were wrecked by the storm -- the Collinsville parade was canceled, and we got an emergency call from the town warning about downed power lines -- we headed out to the supermarket to pick up some treats to get drunk and eat junk food all night. One step outside, and we saw downed branches and trees weighted down by the snow and leaves still on the limbs. Trudged through the snow and pizza, mixers and snacks, trying our best to walk around the burdened trees.
One circuit in the apartment went out around 9 p.m. The microwave, refrigerator and a few outlets still worked, so we watched DVDs on the laptop until bedtime. Around 11 p.m. the power was fully out. I stayed up a little while longer, reading by candlelight.
Halloween came early that night, in terms of scariness. Nothing but darkness, the sounds of snowdrifts, flashes of lightning and rolling thunder, cracking tree limbs sounding like snapped bones and gunshots.
The next morning felt like the world had ended. Tree limbs down everywhere. Trees torn up by broken branches, weighted down by snow and ice. Large chunks of trees down, too, along with some uprooted and others split in half.
After I dug out my car, I ended up helping some young 20-somethings in my building who walked out in pajama pants and rain boots, trying to brush off snow with hands tucked inside shirt sleeves. No gloves, no boots, no hats, no shovel, a tiny scraper. He was from Brooklyn; New Yorkers never act right in snow. She was from Texas; at least she had an excuse. I gave her advice on driving in snow and what she needed to buy. Goddamn, I felt like Ron Swanson next to them.
After seeing the devastation outside, with no way of knowing when the power would be restored, Rosemary and I decided to flee Connecticut. We already had plans to be in Brooklyn that day, I was off work until Tuesday, Rosemary already was going to Philly that week and she couldn't work from home. So off we went.
Brooklyn was a lot of fun. We went to Re/Dress, a plus-size resale shop, for one last time before it closes. And then we met up with Rosemary's friend Sarit and met her boyfriend. Excellent dinner and drinks, and then we stopped to see Danielle and Tanya in Jersey before getting to Philly late Sunday night.
So we were back in Philly on Halloween night. And we had new costumes; Rosemary in a Wonder Woman outfit, and me as a wrestler with a singlet and pads, championship belt, blond Afro wig and shutter shades. Perfect, really. We stopped in at Atomic City Comics, and our buddy Kyo took this photo.
Instead of doing the Henri David ball, we went to Sara's karaoke at Tabu sports bar in the Gayborhood. Yes, so somehow we had the bright idea of hitting the gay part of town with me in a tight wrestling outfit and Rosemary dressed as Wonder Woman. It couldn't have been better. We both were hit on, a lot. I was particularly hit on by a middle-aged man in the street who was walking his tiny little vest-wearing dog. He walked right up to me, and, talking to his dog, joked about how furry my chest was. And around the corner, we ran into him again and he called after his dog, "I know he has a nice ass, but stop following him!" Oh boy.
Karaoke was a lot of fun, and saw some pretty sweet costumes. Keith the bartender was dragged up as Arlene from True Blood. Pete got his slasher ghoul on, and Camille was Dia de los Muertos'd. We saw a great Doctor Who, a man dragged up as a Playboy bunny and another dragged up as a vampire babe. Some Reservoir Dogs and a Coco Chanel. Even Jesus and Mary showed up. I sang "Eye of the Tiger" and did push-ups between verses.
But all good things come to an end. Tuesday I headed back to Connecticut, to no power and a week of rough living that ended up not being so rough, but was rough enough. More on that later.
Halloween was going to be fun this year. The parade in Collinsville, some house parties, maybe even a ballroom party at a hotel. All of that, wiped out by the snowstorm on Oct. 29.
That morning Rosemary and I did have a little Halloween. We got dressed up and went to the festivities in town, which basically meant tons of parents and kids. Lots of little kids and strollers and stuff, too. It was bitterly cold, but a lot of people came out anyway, meeting by the Whole Foods and then parading through Blue Back Square as stores gave out candy.
Rosemary and I wore some pretty rad costumes that day. She was Pretty Kitty, wearing a cat's-head mask, pretty dress, gloves and a vintage fur stole. I was Lord Kimono Assassin, with a domino mask, kimono and my laser pistol.
Mike and Virginia came with their son Charlie. He was dressed up as a cute little firefighter, which was great because he got to visit the fire truck parked at the event. Virginia got in on the Halloween act, dressed as a scarecrow.
With Charlie aboard, Rosemary and me were kept from looking like total creepers. We like going out and we like kids, but in this world people may not take too kindly to single adults out at so-called kids' stuff even if it's a town event such as this. Rosemary brought candy to hand out to kids, and overall people let her do it. She did get stranger-dangered by one parent, but such is life. For the most part we were welcomed and people dug out costumes.
The snow started to fall by the time we finished lunch at The Counter with Mike, Virginia and Charlie. Rosemary and I went into Barnes & Noble and ended up meeting author Kyle Darcy, who was signing copies of his latest novel, Under Current Conditions. We spent a good while talking with him and his wife, very nice people.
As we drove home, the snow was falling heavily. We sequestered ourselves in the apartment and watched a bunch of TV. Once we knew for sure our night's plans were wrecked by the storm -- the Collinsville parade was canceled, and we got an emergency call from the town warning about downed power lines -- we headed out to the supermarket to pick up some treats to get drunk and eat junk food all night. One step outside, and we saw downed branches and trees weighted down by the snow and leaves still on the limbs. Trudged through the snow and pizza, mixers and snacks, trying our best to walk around the burdened trees.
One circuit in the apartment went out around 9 p.m. The microwave, refrigerator and a few outlets still worked, so we watched DVDs on the laptop until bedtime. Around 11 p.m. the power was fully out. I stayed up a little while longer, reading by candlelight.
Halloween came early that night, in terms of scariness. Nothing but darkness, the sounds of snowdrifts, flashes of lightning and rolling thunder, cracking tree limbs sounding like snapped bones and gunshots.
The next morning felt like the world had ended. Tree limbs down everywhere. Trees torn up by broken branches, weighted down by snow and ice. Large chunks of trees down, too, along with some uprooted and others split in half.
After I dug out my car, I ended up helping some young 20-somethings in my building who walked out in pajama pants and rain boots, trying to brush off snow with hands tucked inside shirt sleeves. No gloves, no boots, no hats, no shovel, a tiny scraper. He was from Brooklyn; New Yorkers never act right in snow. She was from Texas; at least she had an excuse. I gave her advice on driving in snow and what she needed to buy. Goddamn, I felt like Ron Swanson next to them.
After seeing the devastation outside, with no way of knowing when the power would be restored, Rosemary and I decided to flee Connecticut. We already had plans to be in Brooklyn that day, I was off work until Tuesday, Rosemary already was going to Philly that week and she couldn't work from home. So off we went.
Brooklyn was a lot of fun. We went to Re/Dress, a plus-size resale shop, for one last time before it closes. And then we met up with Rosemary's friend Sarit and met her boyfriend. Excellent dinner and drinks, and then we stopped to see Danielle and Tanya in Jersey before getting to Philly late Sunday night.
So we were back in Philly on Halloween night. And we had new costumes; Rosemary in a Wonder Woman outfit, and me as a wrestler with a singlet and pads, championship belt, blond Afro wig and shutter shades. Perfect, really. We stopped in at Atomic City Comics, and our buddy Kyo took this photo.
Instead of doing the Henri David ball, we went to Sara's karaoke at Tabu sports bar in the Gayborhood. Yes, so somehow we had the bright idea of hitting the gay part of town with me in a tight wrestling outfit and Rosemary dressed as Wonder Woman. It couldn't have been better. We both were hit on, a lot. I was particularly hit on by a middle-aged man in the street who was walking his tiny little vest-wearing dog. He walked right up to me, and, talking to his dog, joked about how furry my chest was. And around the corner, we ran into him again and he called after his dog, "I know he has a nice ass, but stop following him!" Oh boy.
Karaoke was a lot of fun, and saw some pretty sweet costumes. Keith the bartender was dragged up as Arlene from True Blood. Pete got his slasher ghoul on, and Camille was Dia de los Muertos'd. We saw a great Doctor Who, a man dragged up as a Playboy bunny and another dragged up as a vampire babe. Some Reservoir Dogs and a Coco Chanel. Even Jesus and Mary showed up. I sang "Eye of the Tiger" and did push-ups between verses.
But all good things come to an end. Tuesday I headed back to Connecticut, to no power and a week of rough living that ended up not being so rough, but was rough enough. More on that later.