By: Gerri Graves
Word on the Street Issue 48, October 2024
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End of Harvest season and the beginning of the dark half of the year. Feasts, offerings and celebratory bonfires (used as a sort of cleansing). The veil between the underworld and our world is thinnest on the 31st and 1st of November. It is said that our loved ones gone, can visit us during these days. We honor them by a place set at the table (dummy setting), photos of those departed and lit candles of remembrance. I’ve heard two versions of our modern day pumpkin carving….. initially carved into turnips and carried like a lantern. Some tales say the turnip lanterns were lit to guide our family home and some say that scary faces were carved to frighten wayward spirits away. Samhain is basically honoring your dead and celebrating the living….not unlike Dia de los Muertos.
I’ll stop there, for now. The history of Samhain and the parallels of our modern day Halloween, are an article in and of itself. (Perhaps next year)
Fall is, by far,….my favorite time of year. The crisp air, changing leaves and all the comfort food I’m going to cook, changes my mood almost overnight.
The changing of the seasonal guard conjures up memories that make me blissfully happy. I’ll share a few….and when you see me, please tell me yours. I’ll listen attentively, as I love a good fall memory and relative stories. It’ll be like a gift, as I gift you mine……
Watching trick-or-treaters wade through thigh high fallen leaves from a third story window of an old colonial B&B, located in historic Marblehead, Mass. The sound of the ocean crashing at the rocky shore, mixed with the gleeful laughter of costume-clad children clutching their bags filled with the nights haul, mingled with the sound of the wind whistling through 300 year old chimneys and rattling the distorted cylinder glass of the windows.
An open air market in Zihuatanejo, Mexico filled with artwork for Dia de los Muertos and also where I found this awesome t-shirt of a scary Chupacabra. Lol
An old, wooden covered bridge framed by the gem colored leaves of old maples and oaks….. located next to an ancient cemetery. I sipped on homemade cider paired with some of my homemade pumpkin bread…..and daydreamed a scene from Sleepy Hollow.
Sneaking into Lafayette cemetery in New Orleans after dark and traipsing the blackened walkways of this wee city of the dead, by way of candlelight. I’m an Anne Rice fan. No way was I going to let a closed wrought iron gate stop this degenerate. My mind painted the imagery of Louis, Lestat and Claudia roaming the avenues of stone and marble ‘houses’ of the dead……or undead? Lol
An obscure, tiny pub in Manhattan lit almost entirely, by candlelight. Hundreds of dripping pillars, of various heights, lined every available surface in the place. A lone guitar player sat in the corner, strumming soft music, lending to the atmosphere. The scent of melting wax and cinnamon hung in the air…..and I ordered myself a snakebite halved with pumpkin ale. First one of the season that year.
Veronique, Morgause and I made an Halloween garland with leaves, sparkly orange tulle, orange lights and hundreds of little stuffed figures. I cut them out of muslin, sewed them, stuffed them and then the three of us painted them. I handed Mo a paint brush and paint and she just had the best time. More paint ended up on her, than on the objects she painted, but the clean up was worth every smile that crossed that sweet face. Ghosts, pumpkins, witch hats, candy corn, bats and owls. I wired each one intermittently, to the garland foundation……and it was absolutely impressive lining our front door.
Every pumpkin patch we came across, no matter how far we had to drive to get there. Haunted houses- most notable by ‘Indy Screampark’ located right outside of Indianapolis, one that was inside of Indianapolis in an old warehouse that was so amazing, that people actually waited two hours to get in. One in Salem, lol, where I almost piddled myself at a vaccuum coming out of nowhere. A vacuum!! (I think that says something about me.) I screamed so loud, and then fell into hysterical laughter. Yeah, I laugh when I get scared….. I’m one of those people. *Smiles with all her teeth*
When in Salem……go to a Witch’s Ball! It was held in an antiquated mansion right off the Salem common. I was sat with a coven from Rhode Island, who were Stevie Nicks’d to the max. Clad in all black, they garbed themselves in flowing gypsy skirts, shawls, dangling bells, big floral arrangements sat round their conical witch hats and many silver rings on every flesh encased phalange. They adopted my friend and I for the evening. We left with their wonderful stories, a recipe for homemade mead and one of the best evenings I’ve ever had. There is something inherently bad a** about sitting in a room with hundreds of women in pointy hats. Lol
All the costumes I lovingly made my children, stitch by stitch …and sometimes, hand drafted patterns mapped out by my own hand. I never worked on Halloween…..and when the schools stopped allowing costumes, I kept my kids at home where we’d bake, carve pumpkins and prepare for the nights festivities. I always prepped a hearty meal. Never the same meal twice, but I always included acorn squash….. orange ones, if I could find them. We over decorated and I would sit out front amongst the decor and greet the trick or treaters. Some parents even drove their kids from different cities/counties every year just to visit us on Halloween night. It was a blast seeing how much they’d grown, year after year.
I get butterflies just remembering.
I’m so glad I have these memories.
Thanks for letting me share. I mean, all we are after our journey is done are the stories we remember. Its what we grab onto, at the end of our life. I hope you’ll write your own memories, for future generations of your family.
Wishing you all a delightful Spooky Season!