Happy Halloween!

October 31 is the day known as Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve if you prefer. And if you are wondering, it got its start because November 1 is the feast day to honor Hallows, or Saints, which is why you will hear it called All Saints Day. Not just the New Orleans Saints, but All Saints.

So why all the spooks and goblins and such on the evening of the day honoring the saints? Something about souls in purgatory coming out to take vengeance one last time on those who wronged them before going on to the next life. Or whatever. Anyway, these days Halloween is all about dressing up and scaring people and getting candy. Mostly about the candy. I prefer chocolate, personally.

Out in our rural area, we get very few trick-or-treaters. In fact, over the last 12 years, we have had a grand total of one. Laura and I were out working in the yard just as it was starting to get dark out, and we noticed a car coming up our very long driveway. When the car reached the house, a kid got out and said, “Trick or treat!” We weren’t expecting anyone, so Laura said, “Let me go inside to see if I can find some candy.” That was the last trick-or-treater that we have seen. Hopefully, the candy that we gave him didn’t do him in.

If you are wondering, the jack-o-lantern pictured above is the one that Laura carved for our church’s Fall Festival this year. And believe it or not, this one didn’t win the pumpkin carving contest. But I still liked it. Unfortunately, a jack-o-lantern, like Halloween itself, doesn’t last all that long. So this one is now in a ditch along our driveway, and it will be a treat for whatever comes along that might like to eat pumpkins. Maybe we should have thrown a little spice in with it because with pumpkin spice being as popular as it is, our decaying pumpkin wouldn’t have lasted long in the ditch at all. But at least we can remember Laura’s handiwork in photos.

Happy Halloween!