An Early Halloween

With the gorgeous harvest moon glimmering over the world right now, perhaps it seems appropriate that we went to an early Halloween Party Friday night.  Swedes have imported Halloween from the US, unfortunately at times, much of what is icky about the holiday, but they love an excuse to dress up in costumes just like the rest of us.  Trick or Treating is strictly taboo however as it is culturally completely inappropriate to walk up to a stranger's door, ring the bell and then ask for something!  Come to think of it, that sounds pretty weird in any place, but for some reason in the US we've said, yes it's weird, but on the 31st of October we're going to do it anyway!  Alas, I digress.
No matter how long you've lived somewhere else, I think for most foreigners, there a place in your psyche that wants to do things that resonate with your homeland.  So every year in October Americans get a little hankering for dressing up and eating sweets!  So when The American Women's Club announced that they would be having a party this year, we said, "Let's Go!" 
We decided to go as animals...Doug a lion and me a monkey.  We had the monkey suit from our Children's program at church two summers ago and some good friends casually mentioned their lion suit.  Turns out the Lion suit was an exact replica of the Lion from the Wizard of Oz and Doug looked just like Bert Lahr! He wore shades to try to seem less cowardly! And his cowardly lion imitation is priceless!  Doug helped me put on a good monkey face and we were ready to party!  Some friends had invited us to their place beforehand and they live about a 10 minute walk from us.  So off we went, the lion and the monkey walking down the street through central Stockholm.  True to form, the Swedes did not flinch.  No eye contact, no giggle, nothing...seriously?  C'mon, two adults dressed like wild animals were strolling down your street on a Friday evening.  I expected at least a little chuckle or a nod with a smile from someone.  Once safely in the confines of Peggy and Magnus' apartment, we got a good laugh out of their get up.  Peggy looked amazing as the Black Swan, complete with red eyes.  Magnus was a good counterpart, the White Trash Swan, complete with white tutu and blonde wig! 
Peggy's one of my tennis buddies.  I wonder if we look this fierce on the court.  She should definitely wear those red lenses sometime!. 
We took a taxi to the party spot just to avoid too much excitement on the subway!
A good time was had by all.  Peggy won for best costume and we won a prize but we are not sure for what...I think most crazy twosome or something like that!  Our tails were a big hit and we had fun dancing around like fools.  Here's Doug, the cool cat that he is, holding his tail, making sure no one stepped on it! The only down side of the evening was that during a rousing game of musical chairs, my monkey foot slipped and I cracked my knee on the concrete floor.  Ouch.  Skinned knee and achy body to prove it this morning!
     But it was a good time of cutting lose, seeing what everyone wore, eating some sweet treats and just enjoying a good laugh with good friends.  So Happy Halloween to you all, even though you have to wait a couple of weeks for the fullness of the holiday!