Today is Sunday, November 2 and there are only nine days until my birthday, so there is still time to get gifts and cards, in case you were worried.  This is the natal anniversary of Daniel Boone, Burt Lancaster and Giuseppe Sinopoli.  On this day in 1783, General Washington bid farewell to his army, in 1947 Howard Hughes’ “Spruce Goose” flew for the first (and last) time and in 1962 JFK announced that the Cuban missile bases were being dismantled.  In Israel it is Balfour Declaration Day, in North and South Dakota it is Admission Day and in Venezuela it is Memorial Day.

As I am sure you are all aware, Halloween was this past Friday.  As I have in the past, I thought I would shine some light on this day.  Today’s Halloween customs are thought to have been influenced by folk customs and beliefs from Celtic-speaking countries.  Historians exploring the origins of Halloween noted that while some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which comes from the Old Irish for “summer’s end.”

Samhain (pronounced SAH-win) was celebrated in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.  It was held on or about October 31 and marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, or the “dark half” of the year.  It was believed that the spirits could more easily come into our world and were particularly active at this time of year.  It was felt that the spirits needed to be appeased to ensure that the people and livestock survived the winter.

In modern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the festival included mumming and guising.  This involved people going from house to house in costume, usually reciting verses or songs in exchange for food.  Wearing costumes at Halloween spread to England in the 20^th century, as did the custom of playing pranks.  The “traditional” illumination for pranksters out on the night was provided by turnips, hollowed out to act as lanterns and often carved with grotesque faces to represent spirits or goblins.

Fast forward to present day and we find that we have raised Halloween to an art form.  We now have pumpkin carving kits that include designs and directions that enable us to go far beyond what I was used to doing when I was a kid. By the way, I hate to use that phrase.  My brothers and I used to laugh and moan when my father would start out a dissertation by saying that.  It meant that we were going to hear some story about when he was young and pumpkins hadn’t been invented yet, or when he had to make a costume out of a sheet that he couldn’t get dirty because he had to put it back on his bed when he came home.  Of course that was back before they even created candy corn and … but I digress.

As I was saying, we have managed to take this whole event over the top.  The lovely Elaine and I went to see the Halloween Parade at my younger grandson’s school on Friday.  It was great, actually.  We saw football players, zombies, super heroes and all kinds of interesting costumes – and that was just the parents!  Seriously!  Some parents came to see this 20 to 30 minute parade in costume.  C’mon, Really!!  You couldn’t let your child enjoy that moment in the spotlight without trying to steal some of his or her thunder?  The lovely Elaine and I went as loving grandparents and we enjoyed our grandson enjoying himself.  The kids had a lot of fun and the costumes were great.  They all walked along smiling and waving to everyone watching and the teachers were also in thematic costumes, representing the medical profession.  

After the show was over we took care of a couple other responsibilities and then headed home.  We wanted to be home before it got dark because we did not want to take a chance on flattening a little Trick-or-Treater while we were driving.  Also, we had purchased a bag of candy and we wanted to distribute as much of that as possible so that we could avoid eating the leftovers “because we didn’t want to see it all go to waste.”  The main reason was that it was Friday and that meant Margarita Night.  Anyway, it was fun to have the kids come to the door, ring the bell, say Trick or Treat and then open their bag for our donation to the sugar high that will carry them well into November.  I kept telling the lovely Elaine that I wanted to answer the door by flinging it open, yelling, “Get out of here you grubby little beggars!” and then slamming the door in their faces, but she said I couldn’t.  I thought it would be amusing.  Apparently I was alone on that.

This week our fact tells us that Dr. Kellogg introduced Kellogg’s Corn Flakes in hopes that it would reduce masturbation.  I read this fact several times and I have to be honest – I do not see the connection!  Maybe it’s me.  Maybe I should have eaten corn flakes when I was younger.  I do not see how eating corn flakes would have the effect that Dr. Kellogg hoped for.  Realistically, was the problem that rampant that it required inventing cereals that would stop it? Was he only concerned about males?  Did it have the result he hoped for?  How would he know?  It would seem to me that it has not completely eradicated the problem because they are still producing corn flakes.  

Well, have a nice week, eat your corn flakes, grab your socks and I will talk to you again soon.