It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween!

Everywhere you go! From pumpkins to witches, Frankenstein to scary movies, and ghosts to graves, Halloween is AMAZING! As usual, I'm writing this while watching a movie so beware the random twists in this post. 

This will be a picture heavy post, I do not own ANY of the pictures unless otherwise stated. If this is a picture that belongs to a reader, please let me know, give me some proof of your ownership and I'll be happy to give credit.

Anyway, we'll see if I can put my thoughts in to order to explain why Halloween is one of the two most AWESOME holiday's in the world!

Halloween is not a modern holiday, on the contrary it is ancient, with roots that stretch back to the ancient Celts. Halloween's original name was Samhain, pronounced sow-in, the name that Wiccans still use to this day. In all of human history, food has been the cornerstone right there with art and music. In ancient times before people became situated to live off the land, the people had to move their herds of animals to better pastures as winter came upon them, then as people began to live on the land and sow their own food harvest became vital! These both played in to the original festival of Samhain which corresponded with the ancient Celctic first day of Winter. This is where costumes and fortune telling came from

The belief of the Celts was that on this night before Winter began, the veil between our world and the world beyond was thinned. As a result, massive bonfires were built to burn offerings to the various Celtic gods in the hopes of a safe Winter, as well as a time to divine the future. Much of the above, and following is from History.com which is a WONDERFUL place for Halloween lore both past and present.

If you have ever been to a Halloween party, chances are you have seen apple bobbing, but one question may arise? Why on EARTH do we bob for apples? Well that goes back to the Celts and Romans; after the Roman conquest of much of the Celts, the festival of Pamona the goddess of fruit trees whose symbol was...you guessed it, an apple! Yes the history of Halloween is something I love about Halloween so it DOES fit in to this post. ;)

Fast forward a bit to the time when Christianity became a BIG thing in Rome, this is where we get most of our Holiday traditions. As Christianity began to sweep through Rome, an idea was formed, instead of persecuting pagans for their beliefs, change their holiday's in to Christian holiday's! That is why we have All Saints Day, the Pope decided to take this pagan festival and consecrate it to the martyrs of Christianity.

Fast forward again to America, celebration was VERY limited for quite some time due to the rigidity of the Protestants who settled here in America. Halloween would not be what we know it to be until the late 19th century, but it was NOT unheard of. Looking at America in general, we see a tapestry of beliefs and traditions to create what we have now, and the Halloween we know today is generally based on the traditions of immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, England, Spain, and Italy. Ireland and Scotland gave us the tradition of costuming, England gave us carving, though originally turnips were carved rather than pumpkins, and England gave us Trick or Treating. In England this was called Souling when people, generally poor people, went from door to door receiving soul cakes in return for praying for souls in purgatory. Spain and Italy gave us a favorite tradition of mine, the masquerade party!

While most Halloween traditions are ancient, one HUGE tradition is rather modern, the idea of gore around Halloween and scaring one another. Dismembered bodies, coffins, ax wielding maniacs are all a much more modern idea, and something I'm personally grateful for. ;)

Now, what else makes Halloween so fascinating to me? The darkness! In the back of all of our minds, we get a thrill from being scared, that rush of adrenaline and the feeling of cheating death is intoxicating. The darkness and unending possibilities it carries is just thrilling to me! There is nothing like curling up in a dark room, watching a horror movie! But make sure it has a REAL plot line...not just a looney bird freaking out on people...I tend to go with ghost movies, which leads me in to my next topic.

GHOSTS! What would Halloween be without ghosts? It would be dull, I tell you, DULL! I've eaten up ghost stories since I was a kid, while everyone else was reading Tales of a Third Grade Nothing, I was scouring the schools library for ghost books. I was addicted, ghost TV shows, ghost stories, ghost pictures, and I still am. What could be more frightening and fascinating at the same time as the thought of life after death, not in Heaven per say, but still physically on Earth in a translucent form. Give me ghosts, lots of ghosts, ghosts everywhere! 

Pumpkins! Pumpkins! Pumpkins! It simply SCREAMS Halloween! From the simple to the intricate, the goofy to the scar, pumpkins are awesome!

I have so many memories of Halloween's of my childhood pouring over the booklets of designs for a pumpkin. I can remember arguing with my sister over a design, but settling on another...

I can remember scrawling my name in the crooked lettering of early childhood on the top of my design. That was the rule in our house, once you found your design you placed your name on top.

I remember watching in fascination as my mom took one of the big carving knives off the holder on the wall and stuck it in to the large orange orb.

I can still see her pulling the top up and seeing all the seeds attached, and her cutting in to the top of the pumpkin to remove the layers of seeds.

Papers were splayed across the kitchen table to catch the droppings as little hands greedily dug in to the dark cold recesses of our chosen pumpkins. Scoop after scoop of pulp and slippery seeds trickled from the middle of our pumpkins...

Then, the big guns came out! Or should I say, the big spoon! Michele and I would take turns dragging the giant gray spoon inside the pumpkin, but having very little success.

Then when the little fingers got tired of scraping and scooping, mom would take up the spoon and dig and scrape in the pumpkin until it was just right. Then our patterns were taped on to the pumpkin and we began to drill our holes slowly. As a youngster, I was less than skilled at cutting the the jumbled up dots in to a good picture and I would often lament over the odd lopsided shapes I was able to scrape out.

Even today I still LOVE carving pumpkins, though my skills have improved quite a bit. ;) I collect pattern books, I buy at least one new one a year. In past years, I carved six or seven pumpkins a season, but that backed up quite a bit this year without a job which is all right with me. Even at 23 I still enjoy the earthy scent of a pumpkin, the feel of the pulp and seeds, painstakingly punching holes, and finally cutting the pieces out, it simply screams Halloween.

Yard decor, need I say more? I ADORE decorating the yard for Halloween, and I add something new every year. Planning, plotting, pulling decorations out, scouring the internet and my mind to find the BEST possible yard scene is just heavenly! I will put pictures up of our yard when the computer stops being rude...it simply refuses to acknowledge our memory card...

Witches

Witches

Witches...

Bet you can't tell I love witches. ;) There is something about magic, real magic that intrigues me. The simple idea that a person could say a few words or make a potion and poof! something appears, I just eat it all up! (My ADD is kicking in and I'm losing steam rapidly so most of the rest will probably just be pictures with short captions.)

Two words, Time Warp! Halloween is NEVER complete without Rocky Horror Picture Show! If you don't Time Warp ONCE during October, you just aren't awesome enough...

Costumes! The above is likely what my future daughter will be wearing. ;) I LOVE costumes, I'm 23 and STILL love to play dress up. I even have a plaque that says, "Clothes make a statement, costumes tell a story" and I fully believe that! 

Well, I think the above explains it best as to why I love Halloween so much, and after reading I hope YOU love Halloween a little bit more. Feel the magic in the cool Fall air, let yourself fall in to the age old celebration and remember to DO THE TIME WARP!

I'll leave you with a more modern adaptation of my FAVORITE Disney couple, Jack Skelington and Sally Stitches from The Nightmare Before Christmas. They're simply meant to be together. ;)

Love and Happy Halloween!

Christina

PS - I reserve the right to add as many pictures or comments I wish to this post. ;)

Falling in love with FALL!

This post is dedicated to my aunt, Sylvia Bradley. She is one of a few who ALWAYS encourage my writing, and the one who was so anxious to read a new post, that she inspired me to finally get this one written! Love you, Aunt Sylvia, and thank you for always being a big fan. :) <3

Yes, I did just use a wildly corny phrase which I try not to do, and in the immortal words of the Tenth Doctor, "hope to never use again". Anyway, it's the most wonderful time of the year! <3 No parents, it isn't the first day of school...that happened about a month ago...No! It's FALL! All right, so I've never been a HUGE Fall person in the past, I've usually been a "any season but Fall" person, but for some reason I'm changing. It could have something to do with the fact that the last two years we have had nearly no Winter, nor Spring but flew straight in to hot, oppressive, sticky, Summer...Days filled with triple digit heat, and humidity so vicious not even a full can of Aqua Net could keep your hair from falling flat! No one can escape the heat, with cold there are layers that can be put on with scarves and knitted hats, boots and fluffy jackets, but with heat...well there is only SO much that anyone can, or in some cases, should take off...of course going to Walmart in hot weather won't save you from seeing someone who REALLY should put another layer of clothes on...but I digress. Life here in the states has gotten kinda crappy, and without going into any massive political diatribe I'll simply state facts. Unemployment is rampant, debt is sky high, gas is unbelievable, we are in an election year (kill me now...) and we have gone through a highly publicized attack based on a disgustingly prejudiced movie made by some crazy person...Who hasn't seen the disturbing photos of the murdered diplomat to Libya on TV or the internet? Somehow, with all of this mess, a good ole fashioned, crisp, cool, American fall is JUST what the doctor ordered for me. Every day I'm reminded of the Falls of my childhood, playing in the leaves, Halloween, yes I'm a Halloween NUT! All the fun projects at school, art in specific, and just everything about it brings me back; of course the crappy parts of school life are still hidden in the back of my mind, but again I digress. In this post I'll simply be musing, I may rant, and I'll admit, I'm watching a movie as I type this so it is VERY likely that I will lapse into some new topic, so bare with me (did I use the proper "bear"?). Luckily for you all, I proofread every post I make because I'm neurotic thorough...<.< I will also be including PICTURES! But I'm no artist, my cousin got that one, so I'll be using Googled images to emphasize my writing. Just as a save my butt option, if you find ANY of your own pictures on here and you can prove to me they are yours, and you don't want them here, I will gladly remove it. Now, onto the goodies!

Secluded paths lined with colorful trees and no sounds of city life to be heard. Crisp leaves underfoot of reds, greens, yellows, or browns crunching to create the sounds of Fall. Trees canopying a lone bicycle rider, walker, or even car rider, surrounding them in Mother Natures gentle grasp. Deer (when not running out in front of a driver...) peeking through the underbrush with their big brown eyes and curious ears, rabbits scurrying in the leaves, a fox stalking its prey. The air itself, the crisp coolness after the oppressive heat (biggest reason why I LOVE living in an area with such polar opposite seasons) that feels like Gods own way of saying, "you survived the troubles, now I give you the joys", the smells! Oh how lovely a wood smells in the Fall! So alive, so clean and crisp; when I'm alone in the woods in the Fall, I feel like a discoverer, almost like I'm the first human to walk this area and see the true beauty of God and Mother Nature striding hand in hand to create such a beautiful picture. Gods palette ALWAYS inspires me, who but the great bringer of life could create such colors, scents and sights.

FOOD! Since time immemorial, Spring has brought the sowing of seeds, Summer has brought the growth of plants, and Fall, Fall has brought the harvest! A bounty of flavors, and colors, textures and scents! Gods gift to the world, the continuing promise of human life, food. I can not lie about this, I've never had Pumpkin Pie, and honestly I'm not keen on trying it...I'm picky and a "super taster" but that's another story...I can however, enjoy the sweet smells of pumpkin pie. Crisp apples, mmm! Can anything be so pleasant to the human experience than biting into a crisp, cool, sweet but still tangy, apple! I'm the granddaughter of a farmer, and some of my BEST experiences were on their farm. The feeling of being secluded enjoying the sights and smells of the country, waking up in the morning to find a cow staring at me from the back fence, Grandma cooking breakfast, playing in the rows of the back garden, I could just go on! You know, I think I will. The woods around the farm and exploring those woods! 

Feeding my cow, Susie, petting pigs after dad trailed feed to the fence to lead the pigs to my sister and I, playing with the kittens, there have always been TONS of cats out there, exploring in the barn, crawling into the little twin bed across from my Grandparents bed and snuggling under an old quilt. I suppose I should set the house up a bit, downstairs there was a kitchen and living room with a porch off of them, the living room and kitchen face the driveway and the living room faces the road. Two doors lead to both the kitchen and living room off the porch, there is a pantry off the kitchen, and a stairwell that leads upstairs. The stairwell is enclosed, and is accessed by a door in the kitchen next to a small china cabinet. The stairs are narrow and spiraled, upstairs there are two bedrooms the front bedroom is my Grandparents, with a twin bed on the right as you climb the stairs. The stairs end in my Grandparents room and a half wall separates the room from the stairs. The other room is my moms old room, when I was a baby my parents slept in my moms old room, I was in the playpen, and my sister was in the little twin bed. 

As I grew older, dad slept on the pull out bed in the living room, I slept in the twin bed, and my sister and mom slept in the big bed. I remember feeling so cozy and safe in that little bed with my Grandparents just feet away, even if Grandpa does snore like a freight train...and no, I didn't forget the bathroom, it is in the backyard, yes, they have an outhouse! When I was growing up, there was cold running water so if we needed hot water, it was heated on the stove and that meant SPIT BATHS! Now they have no running water, don't ask...told y'all I'd get off track. Anyway, growing up in this type of environment was WONDERFUL! I could truly appreciate the beauty of food in the form of corn and soybeans, traipsing through the rows, picking up spare ears of corn that were missed, or touching the fuzzy soybeans as they ripened in the field. There is nothing that says Fall quite like a farm!

WATER! Now how can ANYONE not love water? I'm a complete water baby, I love the look, I love the smell, I love the taste, I love the feel and I love the sound! There is something magical about water, so gentle but so powerful. Water is the epitome of quiet strength, it carves out valleys, it can get ANYWHERE and everywhere, it is life giving and simply magical. When water is added to the beauty of Fall foliage, magic happens! The reds, yellows, greens, browns they simply make the water sparkle and shine, and what is Fall without thoughts of covered bridges and waterwheels?

Water adds to the beauty and magic of Fall, well it adds to the beauty and magic of EVERY season, but I digress again.

Thanksgiving, yes I'm putting it before Halloween for a reason. I won't lie, Thanksgiving has never been a major favorite in the holiday department, but there are beautiful memories of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving brings families together for feasting and love. Turkey is passed, and yes I do LOVE turkey! Pies are baked in eager anticipation of the feast to come. Casseroles, stuffing, turkey dripping in delicious juices, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, thick gravy, green beans, it all leads to a coming together of families. It is a special time when mothers, fathers, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, children, they all come together to enjoy the fruits of the season. It is a time to remember how blessed we are, and to prepare for the onslaught of Winter!

Last, but not least, HALLOWEEN! Now as my brain is running low on purty or witty things to say, I'll keep Halloween short, and I really want to do a post later on totally devoted to one of my favorite holiday's. Halloween and Christmas are my two FAVORITE holiday's. A short list and run down of why Halloween ROCKS, pumpkin carving, trick or treating, witches, ghosts, horror movies, scary shows, darkness, and just a hint of magic in the air. I'll go MUCH more in depth in to this subject in another post because I feel this is running a bit long.

To close this post, the above is a little bit of what makes me tick, and why I feel so giddy and anxious about this cool, crisp, sweet and chilly season! See you all soon, and as it is October, don't let the spooks get you. ;)

Love,

Christina