The chill of November can already be felt on this overcast October afternoon. Although most of our leaves are still in the process of turning, the cold gray sky seems like a premonition. We’re looking forward to Halloween here on Summerfield Road. As many of the neighborhood children have grown, my neighbors don’t go in for quite such elaborate front yard displays as they used to. But many houses are still decorated with pumpkins or some fake cobwebs over the bushes.
Halloween always seems to me like a pleasant throwback to an earlier era. It’s one night when I actually see most of my neighbors (at least the ones with children). The whole street comes alive with happy noises and light. I’m always glad to be around that night, since the rest of the year I often feel disconnected from my neighbors. While I used to know all my near neighbors, that’s not true anymore. The language barrier isn’t helping. Next door is an extended Hispanic family that speaks very little English. On the other side is a semi-reclusive Filipina lady who rarely leaves the house. Across the street our long-time neighbors Joe and Jonita retired to North Carolina, and their house is now occupied by renters whom I haven’t met. Thank goodness for Nicolette, who still lives directly across from us, and our good friend Chris who is just down the hill.
The build-up to Halloween may help me survive the final weeks of campaign season. We’ve pretty much stopped answering our phone, we’ve had so many calls exhorting us to vote one way or the other. At least two or three every day. If we didn’t know before that Virginia was a hotly contested state… So many people here in Washington and elsewhere across the country seem gripped by a kind of temporary madness, passionately declaring their support of one candidate as though the other guy’s victory would mean the end of the world. I know how I plan to vote, but I don’t expect major changes no matter who wins. After all, isn’t that the great thing about the U.S.? No matter which party wins the presidency, the government and the rest of our lives continue quite smoothly.
