When you turn into your motel and see something like this in the parking space next to you, you have to wonder if maybe you made a bad turn somewhere.
The young folks (I hope they are folks, since they are in rooms around and above me) were headed to the 39th annual Halloween party sponsored by the city of Athens and Ohio University.
I had just come from covering my first OU football game since since 1970. It wasn’t the 57 degrees and sunny promised. It was in the 40s, cloudy and with a brisk wind. I warned the gal in the blue costume that her skin would match her clothes if she stayed out very long.
It’s a wild party
The Halloween (and many other block party events) have the reputation for degenerating into public displays of drunken debauchery, sometimes ending up with cars being overturned and fires being started.
I was looking forward to covering my first Athens riot since the university closed in 1970 two weeks after four students were gunned down by the National Guard at Kent State.
The only problem was that it was cold, I was tired and parking spaces were non-existent.
So, when one of the kids asked if I would take their photo with one of their cameras. I honored the request, then decided I’d rather have Halloween come to me instead of me chasing it.
I’m officially old.
Old maybe, but not dead. You did notice the young lady in the Blue, as did I on first look at the page. Carry on, you are okay.
I love this! I’m the one with the green diamond on my head in the picture. Thank you for taking our photo!
There were no cars upturned this year, but it was a lot of fun at the block party!
Also, a nice nod to May 4. Did you really cover the OU riots at that time? That’s incredible!
It was nice to meet you guys. Thanks for not making a lot of noise when you got back from the tomfoolery.
Yep, I was there for all the OU protests back in the day. I still get nostalgic for the smell of teargas in the spring.
That was an amazing read. It’s interesting and enlightening to hear the accounts of people who were around at that time (I wasn’t even born yet!). Your photographs are absolutely stunning, too. I am going to share that!
Ok, you lose points for making me feel old.
I’m on the road right now, but when I settle in, I’ll send you more pix I shot in the parking lot.
As part of your continuing education, here’s what the Martin Luther King Day of Mourning was like.
This guy is my new hero
(Mummy)