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Halloween 2010

Dennis — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 03:33:18 +0000

Highlights on my Halloween this year:

My boys having fun trick-or-treating (dressed as a policeman and Indiana Jones).
Putting on a green monster mask and freaking out kids at my door.
Twittering with folks around the country about Halloween.
Carving pumpkins, my wife does a great job!
Baking pumpkin seeds, but burning half of them. #fail, LOL
Making myÂ Halloween 2010 Flickr album.
Going to a totally decked out Halloween store with the family.
My wife dressed as a black cat! I like.

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You know you’re from Michigan when…

Dennis — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:07:32 +0000

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”.

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Halloween Facts and Stuff

Dennis — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 17:09:14 +0000

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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