WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2023 - NOVEMBER IS HERE

NOVEMBER 1, 2023 - NOVEMBER IS HERE

Today’s blog might be somber after yesterday’s remembrance of Halloween and Oktoberfest. 

Four significant Dates in November: (in my viewpoint)

1. November 1st - All Saints Day (and November 2nd - All Souls Day)

2. Veterans Day - November 11

3. Thanksgiving - November 23

4. Black Friday - November 24 

November is like some of the lyrics from “California Dreaming” by the Mamas and Papas:

All the leaves are brown 

And the sky is gray 

I’ve been for a walk 

On a winter’s day 

I’d be safe and warm 

If I was in L.A. 

Yes - those pretty leaves have fallen off the (northern) trees - the sky is gray. You have raked up the leaves and put them in yard bags on the curb for the trash collection. (I remember raking the leaves to the curb and burning them with my Grandpa).

Humans love to complain about the weather - too hot, too cold, too dry, too rainy, too humid, too windy, too cloudy. 

Seasons are great. I’ve heard people talk about opposites. Some say, “War is good - because it helps us appreciate Peace”; “Hate is good - because it helps us appreciate Love.”

(While I understand the logic - I’d prefer not to have war or hate.).

So, gray skies for the next few months, snow, cool, long dark nights. Does that help me love and appreciate spring and fall more?  

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Back to November.

Religious groups (most notably Catholic) honor the Saints (capital “S”) on All Saints Day. In that tradition, an appropriate group carefully evaluates candidates for Sainthood. Is Karen a qualified candidate for Sainthood? Is Lynette, Paul, Bianca, Tom, or others? There are criteria (beyond the scope of this blog).  

Then, the next day, religious groups honor “All Soul’s Day” - all spiritual dead are remembered and prayed for. The concept is that our prayers can help some dead souls who are neither in heaven nor in hell. 

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Then, we have the opportunity to vote. Texas doesn’t have candidates this year, but a lot of ballot decisions (money for roads, schools, better communities)

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The following special day is Veterans Day. Veterans Day is observed on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour. That time comes from World War I - the “Great War to End all Wars” when a truce was agreed to at that particular time.  

Thank you, Veterans!!!

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The next to last significant day in November is on the fourth Thursday of the month. It is Thanksgiving. Originally from the Pilgrims gathering to thank God for a good harvest. Some Americans observe the traditional concept - of giving thanks and practicing gratitude. It is a significant feast in American life. It is probably the largest family meal of the year. Turkey, dressing, and many other dishes - and pumpkin pie to finish the feast.  

But Thanksgiving has grown and changed over the years as a big day for professional football. 

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The last day I highlighted is also changing. It is Black Friday. It was traditionally the biggest holiday shopping day. COVID did dent in Black Friday sales, as almost everything can be bought online and not necessarily on the day after Thanksgiving. I remember my wife highlighting shopping plans on Black Friday - which stores were open at 6:00 a.m. (or earlier) and which stores had the most significant sales and discounts.  

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HARKEN BACK TO A CONCEPT - MVV - MISSION, VISION, VALUE

In November 2023 - what is your mission? To survive? To eat the biggest Thanksgiving dinner ever? To watch the most football you have EVER watched?

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My mission is to spread LOVE WINS.

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How about your vision?

To share the message that AGAPE LOVE does exist and can exist for each and every one of us.

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And what are your values?

I take ownership in my work each and every day - to LOVE OTHERS and to LET LOVE WIN.

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We can live life to the fullest - we can LOVE despite the cost. Love cost my favorite first-century rabbi his life. Only some people want LOVE to flourish. Politicians want to spread hate and division, and arms dealers want to sell guns and ammunition.  

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But, here we are - the First of November, 2023 - let’s face this month with positive thoughts - and with thoughts of Thankfulness and Gratitude.

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, NOVEMBER 1ST, 2023

LAST DAY OF OCTOBER

 LAST OF OCTOBER- 2023

HALLOWEEN

Maybe I’m crazy, but I like the fun part of Halloween.  I’m not big on witches, evil monsters, bats, killing, and similar things.  I like the concept of kids and adults dressing up in costumes for a fun time.

What a great time to dress up and play a different part.  In the past, I’ve been Zorro (one of my favorites), a Ketchup Bottle, A woman, a pirate, a clown, a farmer, Julie Andrews (from Sound of Music), and more.  

It brightens my day - to make others happy!!  Laughter is the best medicine (so they say).

There are some folks where Halloween is just another day, but then there are those who celebrate it with gusto.  I’ve seen offices with (fake) cobwebs, spiders, bats, witches on brooms - but in a fun way.  

I haven’t gotten into the ugly, scary side of Halloween. I went with a friend to a 1953 movie with Vincent Price (black and white) at our library - “The Haunted House on the Hill.”    It was more of a “whodunit” and less of a werewolf movie.  The Vincent Price character suspected his wife of cheating, and he invited seven guests to a haunted house so he could kill his wife and boyfriend (but the Vincent Price character also got killed - pushed into a vat of acid). 

Some people have seen all the Nightmare on Elm Street movies and other scary (I assume they are scary) movies.  Not for me. I haven’t seen any of them.

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October (like March) is a transition month.  March is “In like a lion, out like a lamb” (or “in like a lamb and out like a lion”).

Colors are part of both months.  In March, the multiple colors of green appear; in October, the various colors of changing leaves appear.  

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To me, October is a gateway to the “gray months” - November, December, January, and February.  In the northern part of the United States, deciduous trees lose their leaves, and for the following months, you have bare branches.  The exception is evergreens - trees of hope - trees for the Christmas celebrations - trees and wreaths.

And, to prepare those hardy northern folks, you have Oktoberfest.  Primarily a German custom - get together, drink beer, dance the polkas and other traditional dances.  The long northern winter is coming; let’s have a big celebration before we have to stay indoors for the next several months.  

I’ve been playing at the local German restaurant for nine years.  The event is to be fun.  We play “"In München steht ein Hofbräuhaus" (In Munich there is a beer (bier) garden).  This is a family affair - the kids dance with us.  

Our first set is German songs - Beer Barrell Polka, Happy Wanderer (“hiking”), Lily Marleen, Du, du liegst mir im Herzen (You, you are in my heart"), and our theme song - “In Heaven, there is no beer; that’s why we drink it here”).  Then, another band at the other end of a giant beer tent plays.  The house band is greatly loved.  Ronnie plays the accordion and yodels, Rusty plays his fiddle, and the jokes might be stale - but loveable.  

Our second set is more big band songs - including the Chicken Dance, YMCA, When the Saints Go Marching in, In the Mood, and we finish with God Bless America.  (If there are three tubas, I get out into the audience and lead the Chicken Dance, YMCA and God Bless America). 

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At the end of the evening, everyone goes home tired and happy.  

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Then comes the religious side of fall - November 1st - All Saints Day.  Halloween is from “Hallowed Evening” (or “Hallowed Eve”), the evening before All Saints.  November 2nd is All Souls Day - remembering our dead. Hispanic folks have the “Day of the Dead” - with altars in their homes for loved ones. Some Christian churches encourage families to bring pictures of their dead family members- to be remembered and prayed for during November.  

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So, why not enjoy Halloween; why not enjoy Oktoberfest - have a beer (or two), dance, party, and let the world (or at least the northern hemisphere) slip into winter?  

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Humans - like nature - have seasons in our lives.  We are born, we grow up as children, then work hard as adults, and grow older.  We retire into a golden age, and then we go into winter - and death.  

I get reminded of my age as I walk slower, I need to remember names, and my wit and humor become less.  

Mentally, I want to think I’m as sharp as I always was, but that’s probably not true.  Physically, I know I’m not as strong or fast as I once was.  

But life does go on.  And, I am still learning - and still smiling and loving.

That is because:

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS ME

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, OCTOBER 31, 2023

MONDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2023

 MONDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2023 - THE MARTIANS ARE COMING.

TODAY, OCTOBER 30, 2023 - IN HISTORY.

In this Halloween season, I’m writing about a great panic 85 years ago. - the Martians are coming.

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October 30, 1938 — The War of the Worlds, the science fiction novel by English author HG Wells about a spaceship from Mars landing on Earth and causing panic, death, and destruction, was published in 1897. On this day in 1938, actor Orson Welles allegedly caused real-life panic across America when he presented the story in an all-too-realistic radio broadcast.

I’m a little Science Fiction fan. As a kid, I read some of the most famous books - Isaac Asimov and the various PERN books by Anne McCaffrey.  

And I have read many of the HG Wells books, too - and Jules Verne.  

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In 1938, there was no television - and radio was the nightly entertainment for many Americans. The country was slowly emerging from the Great Depression.  

I wasn’t alive then, but I’m picturing the situation. My parents had a vast standing radio in the basement as I grew up in the 1950s. In the era before television, that kind of device was common in American Households (probably similar to today’s large-screen television.)

Some of the most popular radio shows in 1938 were:
Fibber McGee and Molly, 

Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge

Fred Allen’s Town Hall Tonight 

Edgar Bergen - with his wooden-headed laugh-getter Charlie McCarthy -

Jack Benny show

Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater - the medium for today’s blog

Bob Hope’s Pepsodent Show

Lowell Thomas & Walter Winchell. 

Fanny Brice & Frank Morgan

I picture families setting up a Scrabble game or Euchre card game on the card table and somebody turning the dial to see what might be playing that night. (Very much like “channel surfing” these days).  

So, on Sunday, October 30, 1938, those scrolling through the various radio stations might have come upon Mercury Theater. It sounded authentic - like a regular newscast from that day. “NEWS FLASH - A MARTIAN SPACESHIP HAS LANDED IN NEW JERSEY. “The spaceship landed at Grovers Mill, New Jersey. The radio cast sounded like newscasters as they reported all the calamity surrounding the landing of a spacecraft in central New Jersey (about halfway between New York and Philadelphia - on US 1 (which at that time was the route from Canada all the way to the Florida Keys)  

People thought it was real. I imagine neighbors calling neighbors in Eastern Iowa (where I grew up) with the news. “Helen and Woody - are you listening to the radio? Martians have landed in New Jersey. We are under attack from outer space!”. 

And my parents (Helen and Woody) would have called Elva and Floyd Lacy. “Have you heard the news? It’s on the radio. Martians are attacking us.” Then they would have called the Buxtons (down the street).  

 

If the Martians could land in New Jersey, they could land in Iowa (or any place).  

In today’s terminology, it would go “viral” in minutes. “The Martians have invaded us.”

“A disclaimer at the top of the show explained that what followed was a dramatization, but if the listener missed the announcement, it would be another 40 minutes before another one was issued. By then, a lot of people had been taken in.”. Or ... they may have just ignored the disclaimer.

The resulting hysteria -- people fleeing in their cars, barricading themselves inside their homes -- led to calls for stricter regulation of radio broadcasting to prevent this sort of thing from occurring again.”

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I’m not sure that something similar could occur again. There are too many television, radio stations - and online resources. I probably would log on and ask Google, “Are we being attacked by Martians?”. 

Of course, something true could happen - and we might not believe it. Maybe it could be something like “Israel uses a small atomic bomb on Iran” (or Russia uses an atomic bomb on Ukraine). And we may or may not accept the “news flash.”  

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Would you be suspicious if something like this aired? (It would have to be different - we’ve had enough probes of Mars),  When I first heard that Russia had invaded Ukraine, I thought it was “fake news.” 

So, what could cause you to panic?

LOVE WINS
LOVE TRANSFORMS
LOVE DOES NOT INVADE (but wouldn’t it be nice <grin>)

KAREN ANNE WHITE, © OCTOBER 30, 2023

SUNDAY-OCTOBER 29 - 2023 - SUNDAY FUNDAY

 SUNDAY FUNDAY

OCTOBER 29TH, 2023

HALLOWEEN THEME

WARM-UP

Next Tuesday is Halloween - “All Saints Eve”.  The weather forecast is for a high temperature of 55 and a low of 32.

Daylight savings end on Sunday, November 5th. “Spring ahead, and Fall Back” - so set your clocks back one hour!!  You can live the hour from 2:00 to 3:00 on Sunday morning - TWICE!!!  Sunrise this week is about 7:40 a.m., and Sunset is about 6:50. 

The October Full Moon is on Saturday, October 28th - so on Halloween, it will be a couple of days after completion.  It is called the “Hunter’s Moon.”

I remember Halloween as a kid.  Going from door to door, getting candy. But I remember my children and grandchildren even more at Halloween. It snowed on Halloween once in South Dakota, so our children went Trick-or-treating with parkas and boots.  I remember my twins - one dressed as a pumpkin and the other as a ladybug (they were so cute)!!

Pumpkins are frequently associated with Halloween.  Pumpkins ripen about this time of year. They were hollowed out, and a candle was put in them to serve as a lantern.  Then, faces were carved to scare the evils of the night away.  With the scary faces, it was natural that Jack O’Lantern pumpkins - and pumpkins in general are associated with Halloween.

A Minnesota teacher grew a new record pumpkin this year - 2,749 pounds. (He won about $30,000 for the pumpkin.  It might have cost him that much to transport it from Minnesota to California for the judging).

HALLOWEEN STORY FROM 2047

Emily and Henry had been married for seventy years.  But Emily always wore a yellow ribbon around her neck - even in the shower - ALWAYS.

In their early years, Henry asked Emily why she wore a yellow ribbon around her neck, and Emily would say, “I’ll tell you when we are old and gray.  

On their twenty-fifth anniversary, Henry said, “Why do you wear a yellow ribbon around your neck?” Emily responded, “I’ll tell you when we are old and gray.” Likewise, for their fifty anniversary and other times.  

But they were growing old.  Emily was in a nursing home with heart disease, osteoporosis, advanced cancer, and kidney failure.  Henry visited her every day, and they played two-handed bridge.  Her days were numbered, and Emily went into hospice care.

On Halloween, 2047, Henry said, “Dear, I’ve loved you dearly for these years. You’ve often told me that you would tell me why you wear a yellow ribbon around your neck when we are old and gray. We’re old and gray.  So, why do you wear a yellow ribbon around your neck.”

With feeble hands, Emily untied the yellow ribbon around her neck.

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And her head fell off onto the floor.

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HALLOWEEN JOKES:

1. How do vampires get around on Halloween? On blood vessels.

2. Why did the Headless Horseman get a job? He was trying to get ahead in life.

3. The skeleton couldn’t help fearing the storm—he had no guts.

4. How can you tell when a vampire has been in a bakery? All the jelly has been sucked out of the jelly doughnuts.

5. What do ghosts wear when their eyesight gets blurred? Spooktacles.

6. What can you catch from a vampire in winter? Frostbite.

7. What would be the national holiday for a nation of vampires? Fangs-giving!

8. Knock, Knock

Who’s there?

Phillip!

Phillip who?

Phillip, my bag with Halloween candy, please!

9. Why didn’t the skeleton go to prom? He had no body to go with.

HALLOWEEN LOGIC PROBLEM

Avis, Nancyananda, Mackenzie, Carol, and Barbara went Trick or Treating - who got how many pieces of candy?  The counts were 35, 44, 50, 64, and 83 pieces.

Clues:

Avis didn’t get the least or the most

Nancyananda collected less than Carol, but more than Avis

Barbara collected more than Nancyananda but not the most

(Hmm - no information about Mackenzie)

Answer at the bottom.

HALLOWEEN TRIVIA (for adults and movie fans)

Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore star in what movie about the afterlife? 

Which U.S. city hosts the world’s largest Halloween parade? 

How did early New Englanders protect their homes from evil spirits?

What vegetable was once thought to have supernatural powers on Halloween? 

What day does All Saints’ Day fall on? 

Who wrote the 1818 classic book “Frankenstein?”

What is another name for a large kettle (witches might use that)

Answers at the bottom.

WRAP-UP

Have a fun Halloween.  Those of you with grandchildren can enjoy your grandkids’ costumes. 

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HALLOWEEN LOGIC ANSWER

Mackenzie got the least at 35

Avis was second at 44

Nancyanada got 50 pieces of candy

Barbara got 64 pieces of candy

Carol got the most candy at 83 pieces

TRIVIA ANSWERS

Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore star in what movie about the afterlife? Answer: “Ghost”

Which U.S. city hosts the world’s largest Halloween parade? Answer: New York, which puts on the annual Greenwich Village Halloween Parade.

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How did early New Englanders protect their homes from evil spirits? Answer: By hiding their shoes in the walls

What vegetable was once thought to have supernatural powers on Halloween? Answer: Cabbage

What day does All Saints’ Day fall on? Answer: November 1st - The day after Halloween - Halloween is a form of “All Hallow’s Eve.”

Who wrote the 1818 classic book “Frankenstein?” Answer: Mary Shelley

What is another name for a large kettle or boiler? Answer: A cauldron