As you might have heard, our part of the country got hit by a pretty scary storm right during Halloween.  Those of us in the Heights got off easy, with the only inconvenience being the loss of school for our energetic little ones.  Our friends and neighbors in lower Manhattan and New Jersey are another story, however, and we all feel terrible for what they’re experiencing with loss of power, no heat, no water, and at least a two hour wait for gas.  By now our city has limited subway service and lots of busses (though from the stories I hear neither are great options quite yet), and all of us with children are getting very creative entertaining them during this week long holiday.  It’s felt a bit like a bunch of snow days without the snow and a lot like Christmas break without the new toys.

Here are some pictures taking us through the Halloween holiday, beginning with a gathering up in Inwood last Friday where the candy collection began.  Huck is such a hoarder that he had quite a bit of candy left over from last Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter. Here’s hoping I’m better at secretly throwing all the leftovers away this time around.

On Saturday night we celebrated the Mad Hatters Ball at Huck’s school, which was a building full of chaos and fun and rumors of an impending storm. Because Huck’s costume wasn’t quite ready (and because Troy wasn’t 100 percent sure it would survive more than one event), he wore an orange and black preview to the periodic table to come.  He wanted us to find him a black body suit to go with his homemade orange t-shirt, and when I told him I wasn’t real sure how to one on such short notice he then requested extra small tight black sweat pants.  It was hard for me to accept this decision, as I like him to look good in his clothes, but a pair of size 4 sweats were purchased and he wore them for several days.  I may be giving those to the Goodwill when I throw away the extra candy.

Here we are during the day of the storm, taking a break from movie watching and computer games to carve our pumpkins and eat our roasted seeds.  At this point in the day the winds were picking up but it wasn’t bad at all.  By night time it sounded exactly like a chorus of ghosts were positioned outside our windows trying to scare us.  By the time we woke in the morning the storm was over, the damage was done, and the sun was shining.  Again: very thankful to live on the highest natural point in Manhattan.

And then the big day arrived!  After putting in a few random hours at the church and meeting some friends out for lunch (we were starved for social interaction), we donned our costumes and headed out into the beautiful weather for some treats.  Troy and I put on our old standby white lab coats, made our hair crazy  (my old standby wig could not be less comfortable) and became Huck’s mad scientist parents, which by then was not too difficult to portray.  While most kids had no idea what the heck Huck was supposed to be, teenagers and adults were highly amused and quite a few strangers requested pictures of him.  Huck, being so very unlike his obnoxious parents sometimes, was quite embarrassed by this attention and would only pose with his back turned to the camera.  Which was fine since Troy put another version of the periodic table on that side.  Who knows how many people tweeted his picture that night.  We’re famous!

In a perfect bit of Halloween timing, Huck’s Storefront Science class taught by the fabulous Leonisa Ardizzone is held on Wednesdays.  He was of course quite excited to show his costume to the woman who inspired him to memorize all those crazy elements, and her reaction did not disappoint anyone.  I believe she shouted something totally non-biased like, “THE BEST COSTUME OF THE NIGHT!” Here they are posing together while Sir Isaac Newton, my arch nemesis snake that I’m trying to become friends with, snuck down inside Huck’s costume.  (I could barely type those words.)

Our neighborhood’s annual Halloween parade was canceled since all the parks were closed due to fallen limbs and other debris, and so our usual trick-or-treating routine was a little different this year.  Various parties and special events came up here and there to make up for the lack of parade, and this meant folks were scattered throughout the neighborhood.  After Huck’s science class we trick or treated to the various stores along 181st Street with our sweet friend Olive and her family, and after parting from them we did our usual stop off at our friends Charlie, Deb, Kimberly and John’s apartments.  Huck became quite aware that we were missing our usual pack of boys that we’ve trick or treated with since he was 3, and as we were finishing up he said, “I can’t believe it’s our last Halloween in New York and we’ve hardly seen the Fiaschettis.”  With that I quickly texted Mama Fiaschetti (and my good friend Nancy) and asked where they were. They had just gotten home, also feeling a little sad by the loss of our tradition, and immediately invited us over.  We almost ran across the street, so happy we were, and got to spend time in their wonderfully familiar living room eating candy, drinking drinks, and reminiscing about Halloweens past.

A very nice way indeed to end our New York Halloween.

(If you want to help those who lost so much visit http://www.redcross.org/charitable-donations or text REDCROSS to 90999)