In New Bedford, Mass., police put a program in place to protect children from child molesters. Since their township does not allow signs, they mandated that all registered sex offenders have their lights off, and use no Halloween decorations, etc., to discourage kids from knocking on their doors.

Ed and I don’t decorate for Halloween and like to keep to ourselves, so we keep our house dark to avoid treaters. It’s distressing to think that our self-imposed isolation might mean people would guess we are on such a list. Anyway, the main reason we avoid the kids is we don’t get many, so being on alert for the very few who brave our dark corner is more trouble than it's worth.

Saving me from Halloween obscurity, Nadine, my bff, who had been attending a wedding out of town, called to say she was coming back a day early and I could dress up and join her and a friend. They planned to sit in her drive way (a short walk from my house) dispensing candy. I was introduced to her friend several times and this was yesterday, and I have again forgotten her name. This has happened to me before and I can’t explain it. The only thing I found unappealing about her was that a mention of a transgender friend of mine bothered her. She’s a homophobe. She is also a lapsed Democrat and describes herself as a libertarian/independent. I am not in awe of people who think it is better to go it alone, honoring some mystical special insight, instead of joining a party and using the efforts of many in a unified way to work for change.

About the name thing, many years ago, a friend of the man I reported to at The Times would come in and visit – and I never, ever remembered his name. And I had to ask every time. And there was a party he came to and again I couldn’t greet him by name. Eventually he got really angry and avoided me. I don’t know why I had such a problem with his name, other than that he was nondescript, and hit on me even though I was married, and he was at the same time dating one of my co-workers. I think nondescript carried the day, actually. I mean if he was charming and hot, wouldn’t I at least have remembered his name?

I was pleased to have somewhere to go. So I dressed up and Ed drove me down and left me there because he just wanted to flake out. Nadine and friend handed out candy and I was the designated witch on display. The littlest kids were in awe – they were adorable. Some were very shy indeed. They would stare at me and one of them thought maybe I was a doll and not real. My other memorable moment from the night was that a guy said I was “the best looking witch he’d seen so far.” There were also older people but all were shepherding children, except for a couple of male teens who looked as if they were about to enlist, and were just out gathering candy for themselves, or to sell at school the next day. A couple asked me to pose with their two little ones – sweet moment – and they took photos.

Anyway, I was supposed to call Ed to come get me but Ms. Whosits said she and her husband would drive me – it was only a two-minute drive up the street and if my new silver boots weren’t pinching, I would have walked it. So they drove me. The front door was locked, and Ed didn’t answer (he was napping) though I pressed the bell about 30 times, so I walked around to the garage door and entered the code and got in that way. Then I had a cup of coffee and buttered bread so I could take my evening vitamins with food. I watched Rachel Maddow, who is always fascinating, and got on Facebook and tilted at a few right-wing Trump supporters, and played Free Cell, and didn’t get to bed until 3 a.m. So much for having coffee late in the day.

xx, Teal