Many miniature witches, and a party

Somewhere in there is my friend's five-year-old kid, all dressed up for Halloween and singin' and dancin' her little heart out. Too cute.

Last Sunday, the day of the play, the temperature topped out at about 93 degrees. Yesterday fall finally arrived for real with the first big rain – the kind that makes the air smell like trees again, instead of like ... nothing. Dust.

It was a perfect day for another party, the going back home to India party of a semi-celebrity and sort of friend. Another friend was throwing the party, at the big yoga studio in town, and I almost didn't go because I don't know the celebrant very well and I really wanted to go home to sit in the garden in my rain coat and enjoy the storm.

I'm glad I went to the party after all. I saw more there people that I knew than I had expected, and everything was so beautiful – miles and miles of marigold garlands, flowers, fruit, vegetables, an amazing pumpkin curry, apple cake, candles, music, singing, chanting, dancing. At the end there was even a long section of chanting Hare Krishna and dancing, which I said reminded me of going for Sunday dinner at the Krishna temple when I was in college – and when you got to that part of the singing you knew you were about to eat – and the friend I was telling laughed and said, "[Another friend] just said the same thing." The other friend being a gorgeous white-haired man about my father's age whom I've had a platonic crush on for almost 15 years now.

More than just a great party though it felt really good to reconnect with some community at this time of year. It also reminded me how much I love that studio; I chatted with another friend who teaches there and decided to start going to his beginner's class, which I've never been to before. I even met someone cool who could turn out to be a new friend – exciting! That doesn't happen very often.