There are scarier things than witches.

margot
Originally uploaded by dogfaceboy.

Yesterday morning, an American member of Al Qaeda had a few words for us. September 11th was nothing, he said. Just wait.

Yesterday was the Halloween parade at my daughter's school. It's a tradition that ends after next year, so I savor it. They walk around a very long block, probably a mile, in their clever getups, and neighbors come to their windows and wave. You'd think it was the eighties, when we were all naive, if not safe.

I wonder about the 100,000 innocent Iraqi women and children, about someone not getting to pinch cheeks like these. I think about Nagasaki and Hiroshima—about trying to outrun the rain. I think about the Italians trying to escape the devil in Mt. Vesuvius, their bodies preserved in ash, about the Indians and the slaves, the Jews. I think about someone's dad jumping out of the World Trade Center, what it would be like that instant you know these cheeks are beyond both grasp and reach.

Last night, Osama binLaden warned the nation that we, not Bush or Kerry, hold the key to an end to terrorism. Fran Lebowitz warned the nation that we must get the fascists out of office.

This morning, Margot the witch and Spiderena will be playing soccer together and getting muddy and more beautiful. And we will vote our intelligence and conciences on Tuesday, not our fear. And we will live our lives by being kind and hope that the rest of our countrymen will follow suit.

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep."
And cheeks to pinch before I sleep.