No Halloween

Just a quick reflection on Halloween this year, or in this instance, lack thereof. We didn't do much for one of my favorite holidays because the kids were all gone and it was just me and mom. I shouldn't say we didn't do much, because with just the two of us we went out to dinner and had a nice evening out, but we didn't do much in the true Halloween spirit. In years past it was a big to-do getting the kids all costumed up and hitting the streets to trick-or-treat. This year, however, N was away at camp, and A was hanging with her crew from school. Both options were much more fun for the kids, and it meant mom and dad didn't have to do much in the way of preparation, which is A-okay by me. We usually end up in the neighboring town where our old lame hockey program resides, so it meant seeing all the people we know from said lame program. Not this year.

We are definitely at that age where the kids don't want to do the same-old, same-old, and they most definitely don't want to be around their boring and embarrassing parents. I can't say I blame them.

Mom and I ended up in the big city and we tried out the local Indian restaurant, Jewel of India, that's been around for over 20 years. They promote themselves at the most popular restaurant in town, which is a bit of a stretch. I like Indian food but it always seems to me to be one step above fast good. When you're dining in NYC, this means it's cheap, but this being the heart of New England and such, it cost a lot more. Somehow I can't wrap my head around expensive Indian food that isn't any different than the cheap stuff you get in NYC or maybe Boston. Sure, if it's gourmet and they do something different with it, great, but this was not the case here. This was more like over-priced food that is a novelty so they can get away with it. It sort of gives you a sense of how provincial it actually is up here.

You see that a lot in this town, mainly because ethnically diverse food is such an anomaly that you pay for the novelty. As ironic as it may seem, eating out up here is so much more expensive than dining out in NYC. Anyway, the food was good but not life altering, and the service wasn't that great. Somehow the guys were abrupt and gave me the impression that I was cramping their style. Plus, while we were eating, the two guys working the front spent the entire time trying to swat a fly that was buzzing around, which didn't do much to fuel my appetite. I guess that's why a lot of people we saw were getting take-out.

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Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Flor for the pic.