Masquerade

“Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.”
- Isaac Asimov

Every two or three years since Denise and I have been married we’ve held a costume party on the closest Saturday to Halloween. The event is traditionally billed as the “Halloweener” and over the years we’ve had the privilege and pleasure of seeing most of our relatives, friends and co-workers dressed in masquerade to varying degrees of success, complexity and inhibition...or lack thereof.

It's naturaly awkward to invite guests to a party that bears any resemblance to your own birthday. But periodically the Halloweener tradition beckons to us, birthday notwithstanding. This year’s list of invitees was smaller and was primarily comprised of neighbors and a few longstanding friends. And as a result of their elaborate Trick-or-Treat surprise J, M and K were all in attendance.

In years past I've been Zorro, a pirate, a suckled swine, a butler, a western sheriff, a disco dancer, a nerd, a bitchin’ biker and on, and on. This year I thought that I’d symbolize the passage into my fifties by being dead…not “death” but “dead me”. To compliment this ruse, Denise chose to assume the role of my flirty widow. Touching yes…but she was frightfully good at it. Our girls maintained their guise as the three blind mice from their Trick-or-Treat surprise of the previous night.

Traditionally, and predicatably, the men dressed as ballerinas or transvestite hookers seem to garner the bulk of the attention. Although this year’s gossip centered mostly on a friend from my office, whom most did not know, who dressed as a very (fake) pregnant police chief from Fargo. She caught endless glances and caused many whispers as our shocked guests watched in horror as this unknown young expectant mother nursed beer after beer. It was magnificently eye-catching!

What can you say about a host of friends who will go to such pains to be silly in the presence of others? The feeling of masquerade is a rarity among adults indeed. Everyone is equally out of their element and seems to enjoy the freedom. It’s oddly thrilling....like being ten again.

To celebrate annually would seem a bit much but three times a decade has proven to be a most tolerable frequency. And much like all the others, Halloweener IX was spectacularly enjoyable. Click here for a few pictures of this and other Halloweeners and Costume Parties.