October 31st

Happy Halloween!

Thanks to Margaret Hamilton,

and The Wizard of Oz,

all witches seem to have green skin.

Ha!

I love Halloween.

It's probably because of the kiddies,

but it's also in the fall.

Southeast Louisiana doesn't get much

in the true sense of fall,

we do the best we can for Halloween.

The origins of Halloween

are many things mish-mashed

into the holiday we know of today.

Back in 1785, the Scottish poet

Robert Burns popularized the 

word Halloween. 

It's a Scottish pronunciation

of Hallow's Eve.

Cool!

The beliefs were that the veil

between the world of the

living and the world of the dead

became thin on this evening.

It made the restless souls, who

wanted to commune with

the living, able to return from the grave.

People in Celtic countries would make

food offerings to ward off any

nasty ghostly visitors.

Also bobbing for apples is 

an old divination practice.

What, you say??

According to folklore,

people would write their names

on an apple and toss it into a vat of water

and then dunk their heads into

the water to try to bite into an apple.

This was usually done by young,

unmarried women who wanted to 

see who they'd marry.

👿😈

The legend of the Headless Horseman

had its' origin in Ireland.

(The Irish are a superstitious lot.)

Seems a drunk guy, Jack, on his way home from

a tavern, encounters Satan up a tree.

Jack quickly carves a cross into the

tree bark so Satan can't get down.

Jack makes a bargain with Satan

that he'll get him down

if he never claims his soul.

Satan agreed, and down from the tree he came.

Now wily Jack, a perfect asshole his 

entire life, dies.

Because of his mean and homicidal nature,

he isn't allowed past the pearly gates.

So, Jack tries to contact his

old buddy Satan.

Satan said "A deal is a deal!"

and threw a burning piece of coal from Hell

at Jack.

(Seems to me Satan coulda come 

up with something better than 

a burning piece of coal, but ok)

Jack was doomed to walk the earth for eternity

so he put the burning hellish coal into

a carved out pumpkin to light

his way while he searched for

a final resting place.

Then,

in 1819 Washington Irving hears this tale

and decides to write 

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

(Yes it's a real place.)

and embellishes the tale a bit.

(Wonder what nickname Washington

Irving's friends called him? Wash?

Bubba?)

Anyway....

Trick or Treat isn't quite that old.

Back in the Great Depression years,

some youths would do pranking on this day.

The pranks were usually harmless, but

they soon got out of control.

They'd tip over outhouses -

usually with an occupant in it,

break windows, chop down trees...

so the steadfast city councils

decided to offer treats as an incentive

to quell the rebellious behavior.

It worked!

Now, when kids yell

"Trick or Treat!"

they always expect candy.

(And there's always that house that

gives out full sized bars!!)

💀

*********************

I tried to get the chicken girls to dress

for Halloween.

Nope,

they weren't having it.

All I said was that I could make 

them Chicken Tacos.

Who knew they understood the implication...

😏

Lucy, shaking her head no!

Hazel walking away as I'm talking.

Nugget asking if I've lost my mind!

Ethel, ignoring me while

she snacks on watermelon.

Still no eggs.

I swear, those freeloaders

could care less that I hadda

buy eggs!

****************

Pineapple Sage.

Makes a great herbal tea!

Marigolds.

A weird little siamese tomato.

I drew the on the face.

Do you want to build a snowman?

********************

Our small decorations for 

Halloween.

After Thanksgiving,

the pumpkins will be

a treat for the girls.

A Homemade ceramic pumpkin

that I made in 1975.

He lights up too!

Some denim pumpkins -

also homemade.

👽

The last of the Halloween cupcakes.

Their eyes seem to follow you 

where ever you go!

Freaky!

😀

*****************

Hugs

💚