October 28, 2010 - Halloween An ode to fall's festivalOCTOBER 28, 2010 I SUFFOLKTIMES
Halloween
An ode to fall's festival:.
s,
PEGGY DICKERSON
Havlie enioys marching in the Halloween parade
Many years ago Halloween meant something en-
tirely different from the Halloween we know today.
It was a time when ignorance and suspicion ruled.
It was a period of ghosts and goblins, darkness and
shadows — a far cry from the joys of young people
who dress up for Halloween today.
Having three children and four grandchildren
who went through this period of make- believe, we
remember well when they donned their garb of
pirates, space walk -
FOCUS ON NATURE ers, ballerinas, etc.
along with masks anc
t painted faces. Then
they'd go knocking
at your door calling,
"Trick or treat!"
Today our Hal -
loween youngsters,
PAUL STOUTENBURGH including our four
will dress up in their various costumes or nremen,
witches, musketeers and even lobsters and parade
with their friends down Main Street and show off
their special Halloween attire.
Then there's the prelude to this special time of the
year when the family heads out to get those special
pumpkins. Some will paint faces on them, others
will cut out eyes, nose and mouth to put a candle
inside. Some will just put their pumpkin on the froni
porch as their part of the Halloween celebration.
This reminds me of a Halloween many years ago,
when my sister and I each had our own pump-
kin with its candle inside, that almost resulted in
a family disaster. It came about when I called my
sister over to see how much better you could see
my smiling pumpkin in the darkness underneath
my dad's big overstuffed chair. Little did I realize my
pumpkin's candle not only showed up better in the
Twins Casey and Corey love all animals.
SARA TIRELLI PF
i, our youngest great - grandchild, enjoys his first Hall
sitting among the pumpkins on a beautiful fall day.
darkness under the chair but also, to my surprise,
its flame grew larger and larger as the fire from my
candle set the chair's stuffing on fire.
. As luck would have it, the day was saved when
my mother, who was doing the dishes, came to
the rescue by flipping the chair over and throwing
the dishpan of water — full of knives, forks and
spoons — on my pumpkin and the chair. With such
goings -on, I often look back and wonder how we
all made it to today.
Halloween comes each autumn when the leaves
start to fall. Living with trees surrounding us, we
get our fill of leaves. Nevertheless, we wouldn't
BARBARA STOUTENBURGH
Stirring of the Leaves
�e sun had slipped away unnoticed
stillness crept through the woods,
zch blackened tree could feel its presence,
seemed as if the world stood still — waiting.
7 the birds had left their busy day,
zch had gone to its secret place for the night.
�e tiger of the woods slipped in on deadly silent
wings,
s yellow eyes ever searching.
free deer mice curled up in their warm little nest,
ne lifted its head to sniff the air and then return
to sleep.
ie call of winter played out its bag of tricks,
sing was spared.
a sleeping giant the wind awoke
the last leaf of the white oak fell.
ter had arrived.
—Paul
want it any other way. There was a time we could
all burn our leaves, but no more, and I miss that
smell of burning leaves in the fall.
Think of the fun our great - grands will get when
raking up a pile of leaves and then running and
jumping into them, and the squeals we'll hear as
they get covered in leaves, then jump out and star
all over again.
While here at our home, they love to pick the
hickory nuts and visit the cows and chickens and,
yes, see the newest little chick that just hatched
out. Children love to visit the local farms and
search for their favorite pumpkin or feed the sheep,
goats and geese. They can ride through the apple
orchards and pick their own apples, visit the corn
mazes — all part of the country fall scene we all
enjoy here on the North Fnrk_