2. Connecticut

Month: November 2014

Location: South Windsor

I went to graduate school at 'UCONN', where I made lifelong friends.  I visit them often, in fact multiple times a year as well.  So when I was invited there for Halloween, extending into November, I knew that this would be my 2^nd stop.  I arrived at my buddy Som's place in South Windsor, Connecticut the night before Halloween and spent most of the next day working on stuff that pays the bills.  The party was later in the evening, but I had been asked by my friend Moni, to come hours earlier for “Makeup”.  Let’s revisit that statement again.  I would have makeup put on.  The last time that had happened was back in 2^nd grade when I had played a married businessman who arrives by train at some destination and argues with my “wife” on who should be carrying the luggage.  I guess some things are best forgotten.

Halloween in Connecticut

I arrived at Moni’s place and was promptly dispatched to the makeup station where my friend worked furiously on me.  Unlike the typical chairs one see’s in salons, I was not facing a mirror and so had no idea on what was going on.  All I could tell was that a lot of black and white paint was going on my face. Once that was done, I was given a cape and some sort of a glove with a “skeletal” design on it.  If I had been hoping for a ‘Superhero’ theme I would have been disappointed, because the mirror revealed me to be – in my friends words – “The Prince of Darkness”.  As cool as that sounds, I could have passed off as the “Grim Reaper” or the guy from the “Scary Movie”. 

Yep, that's me

The party was still a few hours away, and so with me in that getup, we drove back to Som’s place.  But that wasn’t the highlight.  It was when I was dispatched to the nearby liquor store to pick up some wine and I walked into the establishment looking as I did and people didn’t even bat an eyelid.  Only on Halloween!  Later on, as I was driving back to the party, it was funny at times to pull up next to a car at a stoplight and then just stare at the other driver.  The party itself was fantastic.  The house had been decorated more elaborately than some of the “Haunted Houses” that people pay lot of money to go and see.  It was a wonderful evening with friends and food and well worth the visit.

As can be imagined after a party like this, the next day was spent in recovery…the entire day.  I watched a lot of TV and did some writing at my buddy’s place, while ensuring that all traces of the makeup had been washed off and I was back to resembling a human.  Sunday on the other hand was devoted to cheering for our beloved ‘New England Patriots’.  Most Sundays when I’m at Som’s place, we go over to a nearby pub to watch the ‘Pats’ game.  And today was special since we were playing the hated ‘Broncos’.  Amidst wings, sliders and beer, we enjoyed a good old fashioned trashing of ‘Broncos’ and this capped a satisfactory visit to Connecticut.  But I wasn’t done as far November was concerned.

I had been invited back for Thanksgiving at Moni’s place and having seen the Halloween party, I knew that it would be spectacular.  But I had plans for Thanksgiving day; though nothing was stopping me from going over the next day!  Moni had promised me a meal matching Thanksgiving and it certainly started that way as I was given a cocktail as soon as I entered.  This was followed by a feast to remember and I did not feel as if I had missed anything.  After that we retired to Moni’s basement studio where she does her clay work. Som and I watched in awe as she churned out piece after piece over some good conversation and good whiskey.  To top of the evening, even though I had just had a heavy meal, when Som proposed that we all go for some Japanese ‘Hibachi Grill’ food, I wasn’t going to be the one to say no!

My experiment on display!

Speaking of whiskey, I had told Som that I wanted to have a “Whiskey tasting” of sorts the next day as he hosted a party on the occasion of my visit.  Well, I was the only one doing the tasting, meaning that there was a good chance it would not end well for me.  Looking at Som’s bar I saw that he had multiple ‘Single Malt Scotch’ varieties as well as several “Colored Labels” of ‘Johnny Walker’.  In fact when I saw that one of the colors was missing, I went and got it from the same store that had seen me dressed up as a spook a few weeks ago.  As predicted the evening started off extremely well, but ended with me retiring early...not before having accomplished my mission. 

The next day found Som and me watching the ‘Pats’ play the ‘Packers, first with some of Som’s colleagues and then at our local pub.  Unfortunately this one did not end as we had hoped, but we did get to eat and drink, meaning it wasn’t a total waste.  Early next morning I left for Chicago after what had been a very nice visit…both of my visits had.  This month had not been like the previous one, with me going all over the city, visiting different places and restaurants.  This had been better since it had been spent with people who are like my family.  At the end of the day maybe that’s all that matters.