Halloween memories, inspired by Suzanne

we lived in East Meadow until I was 8 years old. I don't remember much about Halloween in East Meadow, though I do remember that we had a huge picture window in the living room and that we hung Halloween decorations in that window. I remember trick or treating once, at night, walking around the neighborhood in the dark -- without a grown up (hey, it was the 60's and it was suburbia)

when I was 8 we moved to western Suffolk, and 40 years later we're still here. trick or treating around here took place in the afternoon, after school. we'd have a costume parade and party at school, then head home and grab a pillowcase, and climb hills as we trekked from house to house. one year my best friend and I wore kimonos and went as Japanese ladies. another year I was a hippie, put my costume together from odds and ends in my wardrobe. I stopped trick or treating when I was 12 -- that was the year I went out at night and came home covered in egg and flour.

I think my most creative costume was something I came up with in law school. sorry, I didn't have a camera then. I went as a space alien (some may say "type casting"). I wore black pants, a long sleeved black shirt and black leather boots. I borrowed something my sister's dance costume skirt - the waistband and hem were gold lame fabric, the skirt was sheer turquoise fabric dotted with gold sparkles; I wore this skirt as a poncho, with the waistband loosely draped around my neck. I had antenna -- two wires attached to a headband, each wire topped with a glittery gold Styrofoam ball. wore green makeup all over my face, and bright purple eye shadow. I'm sure it must have been a real sight!

but my favorite Halloween was my senior year in college.

about a week before Halloween I almost got kicked out of my dorm! well, that was an exaggeration, but I did get to meet campus security up close and personal. My suitemate Ellen and I went to the movies with her boyfriend Kenny and my friend Tom. Neither of the guys was a SUNY Albany student. Every weekend there were movies shown in the lecture halls, and that particular weekend we saw a midnight showing of Rocky Horror. The guys walked us back to the dorm after the movie. We wanted to change our clothes, so we left the guys sitting in the lobby while we went into the suite.

when we came out of our rooms, Kenny told us to expect campus security any minute. it seems that Kenny owned a BB gun, it was a pistol that looked like a .45. tom was planning to dress as a gangster for Halloween, and wanted to borrow the pistol. Idiot took the gun out of its case while sitting in the lobby of the dorm, and a bunch of girls got scared when they walked into the lobby. sure enough, we were escorted off campus and told not to bring that gun back to the dorms...though in this day and age, they probably would have arrested all four of us.

and then, on Halloween night, we all got dressed up in costume and went to a comedy club, and saw a magician. we'd been to the club a few weeks before, and had seen the same act, including his escape from a straight jacket. on Halloween, Kenny volunteered to be the audience member who helped the magician get into the jacket -- and did such a good job, the guy had to break a strap in order to escape (Kenny would have won $100 if the guy had to be rescued.)

sigh....I was so young then.