New Orleans becoming a Halloween haunt

Laboring black men

As I was leaving the house on my way to the gym this morning, I saw my neighbor dressed up as a bumble bee. At least, I think she was a bumble bee. It was not her normal attire.

I'm not sure what exactly was going on downtown, possibly nothing special, but a number of costumed folks stood waiting for the St. Charles Avenue streetcar around 10 a.m. A Black Men of Labor second line, postponed from Labor Day, was planned on St. Claude in the afternoon, but that was hours away.

Wearing a costume any time of year is undeserving of a second glance unless there's some degree of nakedness involved and even then. The average New Orleanian has a closet devoted to costume elements, which can be assembled in different combinations on a moment's notice.

New Orleanians are not particularly shy nor self-conscious about their self-images.

When I lived elsewhere, somebody with whom I was performing in a review commented: "You really get into it." (I considered this a criticism.) I thought, I'm onstage, so I'm going to hold back? In retrospect, perhaps I was going with my early training here where nobody ever holds back. We're uninhibited.

Even Uptown, stately homes are decorated in ghastly style for Halloween. Note these garish and ghoulish decorations surrounding an otherwise gorgeous estate. You can drive up and down State Street and St. Charles and one is worse than the next. (In this case, worse means better just like "bad" really means good.)

I jumped out of the car with my camera to snap some pictures of this lawn ornamentation, but I wasn't the only one. This mansion has become a tourist destination to compete with Al Copeland's Christmas displays.

The decorator used a lot of tasteless puns to add to the horror.

A bit more restrained.

A simple pumpkin plus spiders