Day 1 of NaBloPoMo
Here we go -- 30 straight days of posting, so I foresee some mighty inconsequential things being said, both here and elsewhere. As an editor of mine once said about an extremely light and fluffy feature that one of us had written, "Better put a rock on it or it'll float away."
So last night was Halloween. As usual, we waited until the night before to purchase and carve pumpkins. Then as it turned out, we weren't even around last night, so the poor things have yet to be set on the stoop and lit up. The reason for our absence was that one of our future neighbors in Leafy Suburb had tracked me down and kindly invited the whole family over to her annual Halloween party and trick-or treat-en masse. So all the neighborhood parents and kids were there. The hostess provided pizza for all, lovely hors d'oeuvres and beer for the grownups, which immediately warmed me to her -- no foofy martinis, and not even fancy Pilsner glasses -- right out of the bottle, though only microbrew and imports, of course. The kids had a great time; Sarah, as she often does, latched onto an older girl like a remora on a shark, and Becky charmed everyone with her cheerful chattiness. But it was a good night for me and Ben, since this was the first time we had met any of our future neighbors, though Ben had seen a couple at the two Zoning Board meetings, which were pretty noncontentious.
This is only the first in what I know will be an infinite number of "this reminds me" experiences, since I grew up about half a mile or less from this neighborhood and still know a lot of the people in town, or at least the older ones who lived there when I was a kid. Last night brought back Halloweens of my youth -- the smell of fallen leaves, the sound of wind in the trees, and the sight of longish driveways and no streetlights (this freaked out the kids, who have always lived in more urban environments). It seems I'll have to constantly make an effort not to compare my new experiences with those of my childhood or I'm going to bore the shit out of people really fast.
So last night was Halloween. As usual, we waited until the night before to purchase and carve pumpkins. Then as it turned out, we weren't even around last night, so the poor things have yet to be set on the stoop and lit up. The reason for our absence was that one of our future neighbors in Leafy Suburb had tracked me down and kindly invited the whole family over to her annual Halloween party and trick-or treat-en masse. So all the neighborhood parents and kids were there. The hostess provided pizza for all, lovely hors d'oeuvres and beer for the grownups, which immediately warmed me to her -- no foofy martinis, and not even fancy Pilsner glasses -- right out of the bottle, though only microbrew and imports, of course. The kids had a great time; Sarah, as she often does, latched onto an older girl like a remora on a shark, and Becky charmed everyone with her cheerful chattiness. But it was a good night for me and Ben, since this was the first time we had met any of our future neighbors, though Ben had seen a couple at the two Zoning Board meetings, which were pretty noncontentious.
This is only the first in what I know will be an infinite number of "this reminds me" experiences, since I grew up about half a mile or less from this neighborhood and still know a lot of the people in town, or at least the older ones who lived there when I was a kid. Last night brought back Halloweens of my youth -- the smell of fallen leaves, the sound of wind in the trees, and the sight of longish driveways and no streetlights (this freaked out the kids, who have always lived in more urban environments). It seems I'll have to constantly make an effort not to compare my new experiences with those of my childhood or I'm going to bore the shit out of people really fast.
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