Today is Halloween, and I’m driving up to Albany to attend a retirement reception for my former (female) boss, whose favorite holiday also is Halloween. So the reception is “come in costume.” You can bet I am, including a mask. When I get back this evening, I will try to post a photo of me as “Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyant…..the wisest woman in all of Europe with a wicked pack of cards.” (from T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland.) I have printed out business cards with the above quote on one side and one of the Tarot’s Major Arcana on the other. I will hand them out at the reception. My former secretary, who is going as the Grim Reaper, will know who I am; it will be interesting to see if anyone recognizes me.
ADDENDUM:

So, there I am, in costume, with a great gypsy mask I bought on ebay and fringed scarves I got at the dollar store. There were some great costumes at the reception, including the Headless Horseman and a scarecrow on stilts. Even a former Commissioner of Education (my former boss’ former boss) showed up with a black cape and an odd black and red hat and a scary clown mask. My boss was an angel. Literally.
As I drove through my town, nearing home, it was already dark. Lots of young adults in costumes milled about and started to fill up the local bars. A lovely white-faced geisha wearing a beautiful kimono embroidered in gold thread stood on the corner. A couple of masked scuba divers crossed the street in front of my car. (In this town, we stop for anyone who has one foot in the crosswalk.) In my rear view mirror, I could see someone dressed in fringed boots and a battered cowboy hat, face covered with a bandana, walking down the street beating a Native American drum.
This is definitely a night when strange spirits walk among us.