Franklin Delano Rosevelt once said, “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.” And though those words were first uttered in 1933, the echoes still haunt us to this day.
We believed that if you go to school, work hard, play by the rules acquiring all the amenities that this bountiful land can afford you and yours; optimism and good fortune will undoubtedly follow. Indeed, that should be true.
Until something like a pandemic changes everything, and all of us in its’ wake.
We are born and come to believe that we have our own time to achieve what we were destined to accomplish. That our tomorrows shall always hold promise for us.
Until fear crept back into our psyche.
The whole world seems to be holding its collective breathe as we anticipate the passing of this black pall upon us. Optimism is on hold while we await the “All clear!” that will signal our return to some sense of normalcy.
Everywhere in the world.
Everywhere, except Bumper’s Landing.
At Bumper’s, they just seem to keep enjoying each and every moment like the treasure that it ultimately is. They pour into this oasis in the heart of pandemic raging right outside it’s door, looking for their well-earned respite from the stress and cynicism that lies in wait.
And while today, (Halloween) has always been a special day, it’s not any different than any other, here. This venue is immune to the slings and arrows that the cruel world assails us with. The real-world attitude of aggression, hate and fear, washes off right away as the patrons walk through these doors. They check thier doubts and worries at the door, leaving it all behind at the Landing.
The real world can wait, because tonight, nothing else matters. Not temperature, not politics, not logistic, linguistics or latitude.
“It’s Halloween twenty-twenty, and it’s time to party!”
Now, partying is something that Bumper’s knows a little bit about. No matter what is going on outside in the real world; inside, it’s always a happy place.
And, sometimes a little scary!
What do you expect when your waitress is a ghost, and the guy sitting next to you just happens to be the devil himself!
We were set to play a bit later this weekend, Carl and I, starting our first set at eight. When we got to Bumper’s the last wave of Trunk Or Treaters had just left, and it was a bit like the calm before the next storm.
We set up and got into our costumes for the night, ready to take on any spooky occurrence that should pop up to haunt us. All too soon, the room was full of goofy goblins, sexy cats and floating phantasms!
All of them ready to party like it was 1999. (you know, way before this nightmare appeared)
When our first song of the night rang out, there was defiantly something crazy in the air. Tail feathers were shaking, pizza was rolling and start cats were strutting all around the bar.
It was an ominous sight to behold.
The owner’s table right next to us were into it big time, and requesting Johnny Cash and some Everly Brothers among others. Fine with us.
Between monster mashing, and werewolves walking, we still were able to take a stab at throwing some other tunes into the cauldron.
A big hit seemed anything slow from any musical era. Interesting. Apparently even zombies feel alive when they’re holding a warm body closely on the dance floor! Every time we got slow and sultry, the hardwood was full of mutants, mummies and ghouls.
The musty hoard stayed until the last hound was hung, just after the witching hour had passed.
Twenty twenty has been full of surprises every step of the way so far; scary, crazy and unpredictable. Kind of like this entire night.
But at some point, after this shroud of darkness lifts, we must realize there was nothing really to fear all along.
Darkness must always give way to the light.
Rb
