Hello dear Readers! I hope this day finds you well. So since last we interacted I have quit my job as a Customer Interfaceing Unit Operator and have a four day weekend before starting back at Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc on the 2nd of November. Last night I bought a mini van – it is a 1998 Windstar and while it has some problems $800 was a good price. It runs strong just need to some minor repiars – there just seems to be a lot of minor stuff. That is not the subject I wanted to write about. I wanted to write about Halloween – one of my most favorite times of year.
Now I should start by saying that demons, ghosts, and the supernatural world in general freak me the fuck out. I refuse to watch movies like Paranormal Activity or The Haunting of Anything – ghosts, spirits, restless souls whatever you wish to call them scare the shyte right out of me. Seriuosly, this big, strong, manly, grown man has to turn on all the lights in the house just to walk down the hall to pee after watching those types of movies. You see I am afraid of the dark. Ok break that down and it is a fear of the unknown actually but usually I can overcome the fear of the unknown in the light – it is just when it is dark that I get really wierded out. Imgine that a guy who prefers to sleep days and is most active at night is scared of the dark. Ok stop the damn laughing.
So you might wonder how this could be my favorite time of the year? The weather is perfect – not hot and not cold – nature is beautiful. I love the oranges, reds, yellows, and browns of fall. Halloween was the center point in school for the first half of the year. I have always loved pretending to be someone other than myself and Halloween allowed me to do just that in front of everyone without worry of being crititized. As a teen we were allowed to just be crazy that night. As my cousin said in her discussion of Halloween we were in more lienit times – TPing a house might earn some clean up time if caught but we would not have been arrested.
Halloween has always been a time of reflection. During this time of year I have always looked back at the previous year and looked at the one to come. I look at my goals. Have I accomplished everything I set out to accomplish by this time? Hardly ever is that answered positively; procrastinators rarely accomplish many goals. I set new goals and renew my commitment to old goals.
The Halloween time frame brings a feeling of power. I feel empowered – strengthened. Historically this a rough time of year for me. My Father died on November 1st 1978 – the day after my Little Sister was born (That’s right Little Sister was born on Halloween). Throughout my school years I would become depressed – most likely self induced by thoughts of what I have missed without having dad around to teach how to be a man – I think I managed to learn just fine (thanks Ron). We (the Ole Lady and myself) seem to always find ourselves in finacial difficulty during this time of year – this year the car crapping out is not helping that tradition end.
We always manage things it just seems to harder. I think this year I figured out why that is. Halloween is derived from the ancient Celtic ritual of Samuin or Samhain (pronouced sow-an). This was the time of the ending of lighter times – both literally and figuratively - and the beginning of the darker times. This was the time to take stock of the stores made for winter, slaughter livestock in preparation for the hard winter months. Now while im no Doodad (if you read R.A. Salvatore you will get that referrence – if not read the Cleric Quintet series of books) I think we have missed some steps – remember “we” means the Ole Lady and I here. October is the time we are forced to realize the stores we have stocked up – or not stocked up. We do this without realizing and celebrating. This time of year has always been like a News Years to me – maybe I am of Celtic desent (I can’t drink like an Irishman though).
This is the time that I realize how great my life is. Ok so that was harder to do in highschool than as a parent but it has been this time of year many great things happen. Halloween is just a day to watch the kids have fun, to freeze my ass off taking them from house to house begging for candy, to realize how great it is to be the daddy, and to be scared by the all the little kiddos dressed up as ghosts and goblins – or are they really kids?
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