Wow. Last night was Halloween, and now it’s suddenly November. Funny how that works.

As I begin to write this, it’s almost 5:00, and it will be dark soon. Ugh. I don’t see why we can’t be on Daylight Savings Time all year round. Okay, so the mornings would be darker — at least we’d have more light in the evenings. This reminds me of college winter weekends, when I’d wake up at noon, eat brunch, do some classwork, and then suddenly it would be dark outside.

Last night, Matt and I went to the Halloween Parade in the Village. It was my first time seeing it, and I’d had no idea how huge it was! People were packed on the sidewalks and curbs like sardines. We stood at the corner of Sixth Avenue and 12th Street, right on the curb; I’m not incredibly tall, so it was hard to see, especially when a guy in a sombrero decided to stand right in front of me. Then there were the throngs of people trying to squeeze past us in the mistaken hope that they might be able to get through, and the guy in the space warrior costume with huge spiky shoulder pads who thought he could just slip on through. Eventually we got tired of watching, so we squeezed through as well, and got the heck out of there.

Even away from the parade, the streets were filled with revelers in costumes. It’s not every year that Halloween falls on a Friday night — and on top of that, the weather was great, so there were just hordes of people everywhere. It felt like Mardi Gras. I’d never experienced anything like this in Manhattan before.

During the parade, out of the blue, a college friend called me. He was visiting the States from China, where he works, and it was his last night here before going back there. So after a really good dinner, Matt and I met up with him and a couple of my other college friends at a party, then headed back out in search of a bar. Eventually Matt headed home, and my friends and I finally found a bar (where there were yet more people in costumes), had a round of drinks, and caught up with each other for a while.

The PATH ride home was even more crowded than usual, with yet more people in costumes.

Costumes, costumes everywhere, from early evening to late at night. This was the most I’d felt the presence of Halloween in years.

It was also my most enjoyable Friday night in a while, and — even better — my first alcohol buzz in about two months. All in all, a darn good evening.