Halloween

Grant County Journal
October 25, 2010
By Janet Warren
Journal Columnist
My father bought an RV when I was in high school. His advice for driving on the interstate was this: “Get in the middle lane as soon as you can and just keep driving.” Although I doubt I will ever drive an RV, I have used my dad’s advice as an analogy for my life. I pretty much stay in the middle lane, sometimes changing over to the right, and occasionally veering off to the left. I find myself on middle ground quite often, even on the subject of Halloween. Can I just say that I love Halloween? I like decorating the house, making frosted pumpkin sugar cookies, and serving dinner on Halloween paper plates. I like gutting a pumpkin and carving it. I am a sucker for marketing ploys using color so I always buy black and orange m&m’s in October. This year I tried to get into the mood for Halloween by reading a Stephen King novel since I’ve never read one before. I couldn’t do it. I like creepy, but not as creepy as King can get. I do love macabre literature like the Tell-Tale Heart (Edgar Allan Poe), A Rose for Emily (William Faulkner) and the greatest ghost story of all time, Hamlet (William Shakespeare). You’ll never catch me watching a gory “slash-and-dash” horror movie; I prefer my creepy toned down with a little something left to the imagination. I’m more apt to watch an Alfred Hitchcock or Harry Potter movie the week before Halloween. Since I am fairly confidant the slasher movie watchers aren’t the ones reading my column, the only people I stand to offend this week are those who look at Halloween as a pagan holiday. For me Halloween is a fun, imaginative and amusing celebration, nothing more.
I had a difficult time getting into the spirit of Halloween this year because I began writing this column in Phoenix where I was visiting my twin grandsons, Seth and Noah. They are two-and-a-half years old and think that both their grandmas live at the Phoenix airport. I’m not sure if the reason I couldn’t get in the Halloween mood was because it was 90 degrees outside or because I couldn’t find any black and orange m&m’s. I actually got on the website for the company that makes m&m’s and although they have an autumn-color mix this year, there is no Halloween mix. I’m so upset. They can be custom ordered, but I’m not sad enough to have $50 worth of orange and black m&m’s in my home.
My Halloween frame of mind began to change when I got back to Ephrata, because apparently during the six days I was in 90- degree weather, you had a cold snap. That little trick of nature gave me a treat of some beautiful autumn colors when I arrived home to Ephrata. I also had a call from Freida Sebok, who lives at the Basin Retirement Home. She wanted to tell me about the Halloween decorations one of the caregivers put up this year. I dropped in on Freida to see for myself and to talk to Connie Rouse, the person responsible for all this festivity. Connie said, “This is the third year I have decorated for Halloween, but this year I decided to do it up big.” While she was putting up the decorations, a crowd gathered to offer suggestions and direction. “Everybody had a ball,” Connie added. Freida commented, “We think it’s wonderful. This year we will let the children come in on Halloween night to look at the decorations. Halloween is a favorite holiday for all of us.” But it doesn’t stop at decorations for Connie Rouse. She also dresses up in costume and brings cupcakes on Halloween decorated with werewolves and other spooky things that go bump in the night. I think Connie knows the true meaning of caregiver.
Here’s a bit of Halloween trivia for you. The Jack O’Lantern stems from an old Irish myth concerning the devil and a man nicknamed Stingy Jack. The shortened version is that Jack double-crosses the devil. When Jack dies he isn’t allowed into heaven, since he is quite an unsavory fellow, and the devil won’t let him into hell either. All the devil gives him is a smoldering coal which Jack puts in a hollowed-out turnip to light his way as he wanders the earth, doomed for all eternity. He was known as Jack o’ the Lantern which later was shortened to Jack O’Lantern. In Irish tradition, potatoes or turnips were hollowed out and carved with a scary face and then a candle was placed in them to ward off Stingy Jack on All Hallows Eve. In England, large beets were used. When people immigrated to America, they brought their tradition with them, but found the pumpkin much better suited for a lantern.
There are some community events planned for Halloween. The downtown merchants will have trick-or-treating from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, October 29th. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has their annual trunk-or-treat on Saturday, October 30th, beginning at 6 p.m. The public is invited. For safety, the parking lot will be cordoned off at 5:45 and only those giving out treats will be allowed to park in the lot. Others need to park on the street. As far as the regular trick-or-treating, it will be on Sunday, Halloween Night. Be sure to include the Basin Retirement Home across from the PUD on your trick-or-treat route so you can see the decorations!
Here’s a little Shakespeare to get you in the Halloween mood:
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and owlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Bwahahaha.