One of my favorite Halloween traditions was getting or creating a costume. Being a closeted gay kid, it was always cool to pretend to be someone or something else. My earliest memories of costumes were of these cheap ones with a plastic mask with a rubber band on back and a vinyl torso piece that tied on. There were ghosts, witches, vampires, and ghouls and other odd sorts—all generic to buy at a TG&Y, a five and dime store. It was a step up from a sheet with holes cut out fo

Driving across the country in October for a Fall Break is exciting. I look forward to spending time with Bo, outside of the house, and clearing my head from the chaos of the world. Dystopian city on fire. Changes in the air. The last couple of years have been radical. My life has been upturned by the pandemic, civil unrest, and down-right craziness in the Washington DC area. I am glad to be in Virginia now and strangely, do not see myself returning to an urban lifestyle. I am