The Last Sunday in October 2010

 

October 23, 2010

 

It looks like a showery but fairly warm week:

Leading to the last Sunday in October; this year? Halloween!

Historically, Halloween night can be a blustery cold time and it was one reason the U.S. Congress extended daylight savings time into November. Around here we consider that silly 'cause there's only 24 hours in any day no matter what..

 

Mixed visions for me of that strange Americanified day, Halloween,  include collecting money for UNICEF ([the] United Nations Childrens Emergency Fund). There's always some emergency for children, worldwide – even today when hundreds of thousands of children are tramping America's streets and roads searching for candy! That's Halloween too, with a costume and imagination. No way that buying of a store costume is as much fun as making one out of stuff around the house. One year? Helen and I dressed the dog, usual stupid human trick. Other years we helped our children build a costume, make up their faces and have a good, clean time. But ...

 

I also remember Halloween being the aftermath of "mischief night" (in Detroit they call it "devil's night" because people did really nasty things like burning buildings). I never did anything that horrible, just a few windows soaped here and there and the occasional smashed pumpkin; Halloween was the day when I found out how angry, upset, or chuckling my mischief night victim was. "Nasty boys!" (tee hee hee)

 

Today, looking forward to the last Sunday of 2010, October 31, Halloween, I'm thinking we won't have many trick or treaters and hopefully no mischiefy pranks to worry about. The only trick or treaters here come in cars, but mostly everybody now goes to relative's houses or in to town where the real candy bonanza is found in a cluster.

 

I do think my grandchildren will dress up, have fun, maybe party with their little friends and enjoy themselves. It should be an interesting day to see what the local Baptist Church puts on their sign, when Sunday meets Halloween, some Baptists get a bit preachy. You see, they don't approve of the day's festivities surrounding ghouls, goblins, ghosts and such for their religion seems to believe in – Well, I'm getting off the track here.

 

The reason for this reflection, a week early, actually does have something to do with the Farm and our products. The animals don't know its Halloween and they don't dress up but they do love their feedings every day. The price of grain is rising fast right now. We hope, as Halloween comes and goes, that this year's pumpkin crop was good enough that there will be fields to glean. Our turkeys and our pigs love pumpkins. In fact, over the years, we have fed hundreds of pounds of pumpkins and squash to our animals with beneficial effect. They like it, it keeps our feed costs down, and we think it gives our meat another quality to add to its flavor.

 

So here's to a good leftover pumpkin and squash crop, here's to weather good enough to glean some from the fields of willing farmers, and here's to a Happy day on Halloween!

 

Whether you're trick or treating, partying, or going to church! Even the last Sunday in October is a good day to enjoy Your freedoms. You can, if you like, enjoy a ride in Maine's countryside, stop by the Farm and collect for UNICEF, trick or treat, just to say hi, see the animals or buy some meats. Be careful though, there are still pranksters out and about so on the last Saturday in October, as it gets dark, be on your guard. Watch your bars of soap around children, hide your pumpkins! That way, nobody will worry about what somebody thought of a prank and nobody will have pranks to clean up  during the last Sunday in October.

 

posting from Emma's Family Farm,
 Windsor Maine;
 Steve Hoad
See what we're doing on the Farm at
http://twitter.com/TheHoads