Hallowe'en

 

All Hallows Eve, shortened to Hallowe'en, has to be one of the biggest, most popular holidays in the US, but it all started in Ireland. And we thought the Irish only celebrated St. Patrick's Day. Au contraire … they light bonfires, dress in costume, go trick-or-treating and party hardy. Not so different than here, probably because we borrowed most of our traditions from them … and then enhanced and commercialized them a bit.

More candy is purchased in the US on the days leading up to Hallowe'en than for any other holiday. Americans purchase 600 million pounds worth of Hallowe'en candy … $2 billion in sales! More than Easter, Christmas and Valentines Day … wow! The top seller? Candy corn, according to the Chegg Blog. I believe it. We're not usually candy eaters, but we've been nibbling on candy corn since the end of September.

Decorating for Hallowe'en has become quite the expense. Never mind the cornstalks, pumpkins and occasional plastic skeleton we used to employ each year. Now people trim their houses with orange lights, buy huge, scary inflatables and deck out their yards with motorized coffins and animated zombies. Beyond the $2 billion in candy sales, Americans are expected to spend nearly another $5 billion in decorations and costumes. That's quite a wad to spend in these reputedly terrible economic times.

There are scary movies to watch like Halloween 1, 2, 3+, ad nauseum. There are stories to read like The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (also a movie and a television series if you're lazy) and a host of others. Most importantly, there are cool costumes to wear.

Witches consider Hallowe'en their most important holiday of the year. It's known as Samhain (pronounced Sow-en) on the Wicca calendar, their New Year, and it's quite a solemn celebration signifying the end of the harvest and remembering the dead (ask my sister, if you don't believe me).

Interestingly, Hallowe'en is not commercially celebrated to any great extent in most other places we've visited in our travels. In many South American countries the Day of the Dead (el dia de los muertos) is celebrated by taking the whole family on a picnic to the cemetery and sharing the day with deceased friends and relatives. Kind of a nice thought actually … people no longer living are remembered and included in a family get together.

So what are you doing this evening? We'll be filling trick-or-treat bags with Snickers and Twix for the neighborhood kids and hopefully avoiding any tricks … while sipping hot cider and rum.

Pumpkins in the Park

 

We thought it might be fun to walk over to Bird Park for their annual Pumpkins in the Park festivities the other night. It was crisp, cold and clear and the leaves crunched under our feet as we made our way along the busy sidewalk.

Local pumpkin carvers of all ages had gathered together to display their pumpkin art as luminaria along the park's many trails. There were probably over 100 pumpkins and the park was crowded with high-spirited families pulling kids in wagons and sipping hot cocoa and cider to fend off the cold.

This is a fierce competition with categories such as scariest, most unusual, most creative, funniest and most traditional. It was evident some people had taken this quite seriously and the results ranged from gory to exquisite.

The pumpkins were judged by guest pumpkin judges (not sure of their qualifications). Ribbons and prizes were awarded at the pumpkin podium. Our personal favorite was an intricately carved decorative leaf pattern that stole the show.

A storyteller was on hand telling scary ghost stories and there were games for the younger kids to play.

Though they did have a specific “Senior” category, we didn't enter. It seems to us that a “Senior” might be able to compete adequately in the other categories without a category specific to age. After all, we've been carving pumpkins much longer than the rest of the group. Costumes were encouraged, but we had left our sailor costumes on the boat, so we just went as old farts.

Jack-o-lanterns

 

Though we've been ranting about pumpkin mania, it didn't stop us from buying pumpkins. And, of course, once we had a pumpkin, it only seemed appropriate to carve a jack-o-lantern. It's just the right thing to do at this time of year … even if you're not kid.

Traditionally, “guisers”,the original costumed trick-or-treaters in Ireland, carried big, carved out turnips as lanterns to scare away the evil spirits on All Hallow's Eve. In America, where native pumpkins grow big and plentifully (and are probably more easily carved than turnips), a modified All Hallow's Eve (Hallowe'en) tradition was born. Being American traditionalists (as if), we opted to carve up a big pumpkin instead of a turnip.

When the kids were little, we'd hollow out a pumpkin, cut out the customary triangular eyes and nose and then add a mouth with a few teeth. We'd stick a candle inside and call it done. One year, David installed a speaker inside the jack-o-lantern to give the trick-or-treaters a bit of a rush as they approached our door and he bellowed out a wicked Dracula-laugh into a microphone. That was the extent of our ingenuity. Nowadays, there are pumpkin carving kits, how-to's on the internet and very elaborate designs for pumpkin heads including Jesus and Elvis faces. (Really?) With copious amounts of hot cider and rum to provide inspiration, Lin, David and I agreed upon an easy, but pleasing, face design and drew it on our pumpkin.

David cut out the top and then we scooped out the goo. Yuck!

These large carving pumpkins are not really suitable for pumpkin pie, but roasting the pumpkin seeds, however, is fun and the results are tasty (and much less work than making a pie). Just lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet, salt them if you like and roast for about 30 minutes till they're brown.

Now we were ready for the artistry and the fun. Armed with knives and more hot cider with rum, we took turns carving. It's a wonder, we managed not to hurt ourselves.

We were heartily pleased with our results, congratulated each other, set Jack on the front steps to admire and toasted him with hot cider and rum.

Did you carve a jack-o-lantern yet this year? Pumpkin or turnip, it's time to get moving. Don't forget the hot cider and rum.