Halloween is drawing nearer!
There have been decorations and costumes in the stores for weeks, and better still than the taste of fresh sweet corn is the taste of fresh candy corn,and peanut butter cup pumpkins. witch's teeth, and cider gummies.
Thinking about and planning for Halloween in August, and may-be there is something to that. As the nights grow longer and cooler. The ancestral memories of harvest and preparing for winter begin to surface. Halloween, is a blending of many holidays. most being related to the harvest, and to honoring the dead. Samhain the Celtic celebration of not only the harvest, but the beginning a new year, also honored the dead, and was a time when the time was unstable and the past and present could mingle easily.
Autumn brought the appearance of death to the countryside, and harvest brought death to the crops which were hopefully sufficient to keep the living fed. it was a time to gather one resources and hope. today we still see this in the "stock up for winter"and " fill the freezer" sales that some grocery chain stores promote. People buy more candles from early autumn until about the Winter Solstice than any other time of the year. In those times when the family farmstead needed to be self sufficient, not having enough resources to make it through winter was a very scary and even life threatening situation.
Believing that Halloween is a time to make fun of our fear of death is a long held belief. Another belief has been that , one dresses up as something they would like to become. Or perhaps the wearing of costumes is just entertainment for those who hand out the treats, and disguise for those who hand out the tricks.
The true magic of Halloween, is that on one night when we are free to act as if all things are possible, and to do so in the company of others who are also enjoying this brief "what if". Our flights of costumed fancy are even rewarded with admiration. Our spirits are lifted, we face our fears of the unknown and we are readied to make the transition from the light half of the year into the dark half of the year.
There are 64 days until Halloween, 64 days to plan the decorations and the costumes, 64 days to remember all of the fun of going door to door, and seeing who got the most candy. There are 64 days to think about how it felt to relive Trick or treat night with you children and may-be your grandchildren.
In 1849 ,Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, wrote that the more things changed the more they remain the same.
I have never tried the following.
How To make Your Pumpkin Last for WEEKS:
“After you scoop out and carve your pumpkin, dip it in a large container of bleach and water (use a 1 tsp:1 gal mix). The bleach will kill bacteria and help your pumpkin stay fresh longer. Once completely dry, (drain upside down), add 2 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to a quart of water. Brush this solution onto your pumpkin to keep it looking fresh for weeks.”
