The Obligatory Halloween Blog Post...

My wife and I stood outside out house tonight as we waited for the ever-diminishing number of trick-or-treaters to stop by.

"I love Halloween," I told her. Looking at the carved pumpkins on the front stairs, feeling the chill in the air. It reminded me of when I went door-to-door for candy as a child and when my wife and I took around our kids to the neighbor's homes on the last night of October.

It's been years since we went trick-or-treating with the kids, but each year we've carved pumpkins and decorated the house--not overly, but enough. And for the past several years I've taken the day off work. This year was no different. It's something I look forward to each year, staying home all day to help the family get ready for the holiday.

The kids are hopefully getting warn inside their homes thinking of all the treats they'll consume in the next couple of days. Tomorrow we'll toss the pumpkins (unless they get chucked before that...) and put away the decorations. They'll sit for a year until it's time to pull them out again.

Yes--I do love Halloween.

Happy Birthday Mom...Well, Tomorrow

It's Friday as I write this, but most will read my blog post tomorrow, which is October 27th, my mother's birthday. I think each year--or many years since I began this blog in 2011--I've written about my mom's birthday and the pre-Halloween tradition I've kept up for decades.

Each year, on her birthday, I carve a pumpkin.

I used to give it to her and it would be one of the pumpkins we put on the stairs at our house. Now, I place it on my parent's grave. I carved the pumpkin today, tomorrow I'll take it over and place it on the grave. I would have placed it there before I went to work this afternoon, but last year, someone smashed it when I checked a few days after the 27th.

A trick I've been using the past couple of years is to use one of those rechargeable yard lights to light the pumpkin at night. I just cut a hole the size of the light and voilá, I have illumination without resorting to a candle or a battery-powered light.

I sure miss my mom. She'd be turning eighty-seven. She'd love watching her grandkids get bigger, seeing and being with the great-grandkids, and making our lives become a part of her own. But, as with all things, since we have a beginning, we must then have an ending and her time came over eleven years ago. 

Tomorrow I'll drive over the the cemetery, place the pumpkin on the headstone, and hope no one smashes it, at least until tomorrow's over. This year, I chose a "witch hitting a tree" pattern. I'm sure she would have loved it. Happy birthday, well, tomorrow.

Power Tools And Pumpkin Carving...

My wife saw something the other day on the internet--a new way to help carve a pumpkin.

I'm sure it's not revolutionary, but it was new to us.

I imagine people have been carving out pumpkins as long as there have been humans and pumpkins. Though, I'm sure our forefathers would think us crazy to hollow out the inside of a perfectly good gourd and basically not use what's inside. My guess would be that in olden days they used the entire pumpkin, both the inside and the outside. Even though we bake the pumpkin seeds from our Halloween jack-o-lanterns, we throw most of what's inside away.

My Wife saw someone using a power drill to help get rid of what's inside the pumpkin. We decided to try it. For her, scooping out the insides is one of the things she dislikes about carving pumpkins. 

We tried it and the verdict--

Basically, it helped. It didn't change our lives, or make the process effortless, but it did help. I spent much less time getting all the insides out. Next year I'm sure we'll hook up a blender beater to our cordless drill and go to town. And if you think it would help you, give it a try!

Happy Birthday, Mom...Happy 86th!

Tonight, after doing six shows at Frightmares, I drove my little car into a cemetery and placed a carved pumpkin on an headstone. 

It's something I've done on this day every year.

Of course, sometimes I arrive earlier in the day. This time, I couldn't make it until the day, October 27th, was almost over.

This time I chose a simple design, a ghost forming in the word "BOO." In the past, I've been more creative. But this year, I wanted something different. And I placed one of the rechargeable yard lights that broke inside the pumpkin so that it can shine at night without needing to light a candle.

For as long as I can remember, I've carved a pumpkin for my mother on her birthday. I'm just continuing the tradition. This time, I just barely made it before October 27th became October 28th.

Happy 86th, Mom! Sure wish we could have celebrated together. But, in a way, we did.