Oct 31

Oct 31 Halloween

“You hear him howling around your kitchen door
You better not let him in
Little old lady got mutilated late last night
Werewolves of London again
Aaoooooo
Werewolves of London
Aaoooooo
”

— Werewovles of London, Warren Zevon, from Excitable Boy (1978)

Mid-afternoon saw large, wet snowflakes filling the skies of downtown Chicago. Yep, October 31, and we have snow that stuck to the trees and eventually started to accumulate on parts of the wet, icy sidewalk. It did not bode well for the annual parade in Boystown.

When I arrived at Halsted and Roscoe at 6:00PM, metal barricades lined the street, but there were few people in sight. I decided to sit in the bar at Yoshi’s, opting for a diet Coke and tuna tartar (with an oyster sake shooter). At 7:15PM, I left the warm confines of the restaurant, heading to the sign-in booth. I had entered the parade and contest, wearing a mask that I had picked up at Walgreens.

There were about 250 people much better attired than me. Creatures, the Joker, and Drag Queens. Together, we stepped off at 7:40PM, headed north on Halsted. The crowds lining the barriers had definitely thickened. Overall, there were probably 2,000 to 3,000 people on the street, cheering us on.

I am sure some stayed for the entertainment, but I headed home after about 90 minutes into the evenings festivities. It was cold, and it was much too early for it to be that cold.

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