Halloween 2007

If you want to see the Halloween parade up 6th Avenue, a good tip is to be in the parade! Just put on some funky costumes, go to 6th Avenue and Spring street at 7pm on October 31st, and exercise a bit of patience...

Kate's Jellyfish outfit received lot's of "Jellyfish!" catcalls (bizarre). The folks behind us in the parade had fantastic costumes (see above). Nobody knew what my outfit was about. Kate described it as a "Barney/Cremaster-like figure", though this reference was lost on several people we met. Next year I'll go as a ghost...

At 10th street, we climbed the huge clocktower at Jefferson Market Library to visit Basil Twist and his giant spider puppet. We were all blown in the wind, but it's an amazing view. Basil has been puppeteering in the parade for over a decade (he gave us VIP passes, which was nice). He remarked that this year was the largest parade he'd seen yet.

Basil pointed to the street lights from around 8th street to 14th, observing that they are an antique design, and are much dimmer than the rest of the lights on 6th Avenue. Looking down, I could see how dark that part of the parade was, and the old curved street lights. It's fantastic when someone with a special relationship to the city points out a tiny detail like that. You realize how much you miss, immersed in it all.