The woman standing beside me was wearing a shower stall. Another woman was a gray stone statue, complete with a bird perched on one shoulder.

There were also pirates and police and Ellen DeGeneres and a Wild West marshal with a toy six-shooter and hula girls handing out leis.

Halloween fell on a Saturday night this year -- and one result was a spectacle the likes of which Roanoke seldom sees. The downtown sidewalks were a steady stream of good-natured weirdness. Even the police -- the real police -- were smiling at the show.

New Orleans has Mardi Gras. Times Square has New Year's Eve. The British have Guy Fawkes Night. The Irish have St. Patrick's Day. Pamplona has the Fiesta of San Fermin, famed for the running of the bulls. Sean "Diddy" Combs has his White Parties in the Hamptons and Los Angeles.

Last weekend, Roanoke had Halloween.

-- Kevin Kittredge