Happy Halloween!!!!

              Good evening everybody. I know it has been a while since my last post. I am here to report last week’s secondary theme. There is a method to the madness however. My post, while technically late, is delayed due to the timing of the theme. Last week’s secondary theme was Halloween. We extended it to include the actual holiday and therefore ended yesterday instead of ending over the weekend. I picked this theme which I’m sure surprises none of you. Halloween is my favorite holiday. I am normal and love Christmas like most people, but my absolute most favorite holiday has been Halloween for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, we would go all out each year. Our yard was always heavily decorated. Over the years we had tombstones, dry ice in cauldrons, spider webs, skeletons, zombies, lights, and more. We always had elaborate costumes that involved heavy make-up or masks to go with the outfit. When I was a kid, being a witch meant a long black wig, long plastic nose, green face, warts, long cape, etc. When I was in high school, being a witch involved a hat, short skirt and striped tights. Times have certainly changed. My love for Halloween, however, has never wavered. This year I had my apartment in the city as opposed to a house in the suburbs. We don’t have a yard to decorate but we made the best of what we had. We carved pumpkins and strung lights. Although I did not dress up, I gave candy out to the kids who did. Watching all the little kids running around in their costumes was great fun. There were some awesome costumes as well as some duds. It was rather chilly so some kids just wore layers with a mask. We were visited by countless Batmans and Captain Americas. There were witches, princesses and a fairy. There was even one little boy dressed as Santa Claus. As I grew up, I started to look into the history of Halloween. While I love all the decorations, costumes, treats, and festivities, I also enjoy the actual holiday. Halloween is based on the ancient European All Hallows Eve. This is the evening before what is now known as All Saints Day. The festivities of the holiday were actually adapted mainly from the pagan celebration of Samhain. It is a day to honor the day. In Mexico, it is celebrated as Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. It is said that on this day, or night, the veil between the living and dead is thinned so the souls of the dead can visit us. It is customary to set an extra place at the table for a loved one to join. It is also customary to carve a face into a turnip, or more recently a pumpkin, to keep away the evil spirits. Samhain is a festival celebrating the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. The concept of the thinned veil us accepted in various ways by each holiday. While Halloween is the holiday celebrated most in America, Day of the Dead is still a modern holiday. All Hallows Eve and Samhain are less contemporary though they are still practiced in some cultures. With this, I now present to you some of my favorite Halloween pictures. It is difficult to convey the best parts of the holiday through photos, but we tried. The spirit is mostly in the activities, but the pictures capture the themes and general ideas of the best holiday of the year. I know it is a day late but Feliz Dia de los Muertos,Blessed Samhain, and Happy Halloween.