Halloween

I like Halloween. I like Samhain and all the odd sorts of customs I see from other places I bury an apple by the road for wandering spirits. I was always a gypsy for Halloween. I had a red long skirt with cards sewn on it.... my mother made it. I also wore a shawl and head scarf. Later (much later) I learned my great grandmother was a gypsy. So it was in my blood. I like witches and all that stuff that goes with Halloween. I do not believe in the devil or evil spirits, just nasty people. And real people are more scary than anything supernatural!

But back to traditions. I like to make a Bramback bread, bury the apple, remembering the departed with a candle and incense. It is traditional New Years for the Celtic cultures and it make good sense to me to embrace the dark months while preparing for the longer nights. Since I live in the north I can see the changes in the length of the day and night, sunset at 4:30pm and sunrise at 8 am! Something that is not as obvious in many of the lower states.

Autumn is a glorious time of color blazing away in dappled sunshine. Apple anything, pumpkin anything, I made pumpkin waffles this morning they are very yummy... just add a 1/2 cup of pumpkin and some spice to the regular batter. Baked cut up apples( I like spice in this too) in a casserole with a layer of cinnamon rolls( yes out of the can) makes a nice meal too.
Apples are old world and Pumpkins are new world...I am very glad all the world has been blended together through those who had bad intentions of conquest; but with out the blending our world would be sad and tasteless. We are all from a people who were conquerers and the conquered. I hold no animosity to those who came before me. We as a species are not so nice, we can only mentally evolve to become nicer & kinder. It is not happening if watching movies from the 1930s and 1940s is any indication of our evolution. We are devolving rather rapidly.

Halloween is a time to reflect for me and enjoy a neglected part of the year, the harvest, the change of the season to become winter and for nature's rest. Many have lost touch with nature, but here in Maine it is easier to stay tuned in. The weather will not let us slide for long!

Halloween is all about the treat nature gives us in the colorful trees the nippy air the frost, harvest of the fruits, the preparation of burrowing in for a snowy time.

I like the sweets, the candy, but I remember as a child my booty of candy still being raided at Easter time. So I can wait out the long spell of the winter. Autumn is short and winter is just a few weeks away since snow comes so close to the middle of Autumn now. Trick or treat? All of lie is a treat if we just remember that life is all we have, really.