It's also about candy. It's the only time of year I even eat candy anymore.
And because municipalities and counties never took to putting Jack-0-Lanterns on courthouse lawns, we never had the deluge of Grinches saying, "hey, you can't celebrate All Hallows Eve with public money" and ruin it the way they do with the various pagan trappings of Christmas.
Well, my son wants me to go trick-or-treat with him tonight, so I went to the Goodwill Store yesterday and got a pair of black women's Capri pants, and a frilly white shirt, some dark stockings, and a nice black vest, loose with a big brass buckle on front. At the dollar tree I got a black eyepatch and a large plastic, but realistic-looking, cutlass, a big loop earring, and a black bandanna with skull and crossbones on the front. It all makes for a nice pirate outfit with black Doctor Marten's airware boots. I wore it to class today. I'd spent all of nine dollars on my outfit, and so I wanted to get as much mileage out of it as possible.
My son's school parade is at 2:30, so I'll stop by there and watch it. The mall near my house has treats from 4 till 6 pm, then the neighborhood trick-or-treat time is from 6 till 8 pm.
Last night we carved a face on a pumpkin and put a candle in it. For the front porch. I guess my wife will stay at home and pass out tooth decay. It's all good.
Speaking of sexism, my entire outfit, except for the boots and accessories, are all women's wear. The pants, vest, shirt, and socks are from the ladies section of Goodwill. I sort of expected to have to get the Capri pants there, because men's Capri pants haven't been fashionable since the early 80s, but I'd really expected to find a frilly pirate shirt and vest in the men's stuff. I was looking around, and an associate walked up to me and asked, "Can I help you?" She looked like she was about 18. I asked, "Do you have any frilly, lacy men's shirts?" And she looked at me strangely. And I said, "you know, like you'd wear with a tuxedo. In the 70s." And she still looked confused. And I said, "Think Wayne Newton in Las Vegas." And I snapped my fingers and hummed some tunes. She still looked confused, so I figured that it all went over her head. I guess those just don't exist anymore. Man, I still remember my first tuxedo. I was seven years old and it was 1974. It had a light blue, polyester bell-bottomed pant and a light blue polyester jacket with huge Disco Stu lapel. Light blue polyester vest too, with big golden buttons. Very fashionable then. Black platform shoes. Musta been 3-inch heels. Very chic. And my shirt was very frilly. Huge Blue bow tie. Clip on. It was the height of fashion. Fashion was so fun back in the 70s. And in the 80s as well, when I was in high school. Different, but just as fun.
Anyway, none of those things exist anymore, so I had to shop ladies wear for my pirate outfit. Luckily Iowa has quite a few women large enough to provide me a pirate outfit that fits.