Got an email a while back from an old friend back home in Michigan. Yes, it was one of those goofy lists, but many of them were funny. I’d modified a few of these for the better.
You know you’re from Michigan when…
- You find 32 degrees “a little chilly.”
- You drink pop and bake with soda.
- You know what a “Yooper” is.
- You go to Canada on your 19th birthday.
- You think owning a Toyota is un-American.
- “Vacation” means going up north on I-75. You measure distance in hours.
- You can drive 65 mph through a feet of snow during a raging blizzard,
without flinching.
- You design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
- You know it’s possible to live in “the thumb”.
In honor of my favorite holiday next week, Halloween, here is some interesting reading:
Some Halloween History
- Many experts believe the druids were the first to observe Halloween. Dating back to 700 B.C., they celebrated the festival of Samhain (the end of the harvest and a time to honor the dead) on November 1. In the ensuing years, the night before became known as the Eve of All Hallows, a.k.a. Hallow Even, a.k.a. Hallow e’en.
- Ever wonder how trick-or-treating got started? On the evening before Samhain, people left food on their doorsteps to keep hungry spirits from entering the house. Festival-goers started dressing in ghost, witch, and goblin costumes so wandering spirits would leave them alone. To this day, these are Halloween’s most popular costumes.
- The word witch comes from the Saxon word “wicca”, which means “wise one.”
Spooky Animals
- Black cats, those customary Halloween icons, were originally believed to be witches’ familiars, a kind of cosmic sidekick who protected the witches’ powers from negative forces.
- Some so-called vampire bats do drink blood, but they’re not from Transylvania. They live in Central and South America and feed on cattle, horses, and birds.
Pumpkins and…Turnips?
- The biggest pumpkin in the world tipped the scales at a whopping 1,337.6 pounds. This gigantic gourd was weighed in October, 2002 at a pumpkin festival in Topsfield, Mass.
- Of all canned fruits and vegetables, pumpkin is the best source of vitamin A. Just a half-cup of the orange stuff has more than three times the recommended daily requirement.
- The very first jack o’ lantern was made out of a turnip.
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