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