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Just what is the significance of all the costumes worn at Halloween? A long time ago in a far off land……..oops, wrong story. A long time ago in Ireland, there was the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints’ Day. Halloween is largely a secular celebration, but some Christians and pagans have expressed strong feelings about its religious overtones. The day is often associated with the colors orange and black, and is strongly associated with symbols such as the jack-o'-lantern. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes, ghost tours, bonfires, costume parties, visiting haunted attractions, carving jack-o'-lanterns, reading scary stories, and watching horror movies. On Hallows’ eve, the ancient Celts would place a skeleton on their window sill to represent the departed. Originating in Europe, these lanterns were first carved from a turnip or rutabaga. Believing that the head was the most powerful part of the body, containing the spirit and the knowledge, the Celts used the "head" of the vegetable to frighten off the embodiment of superstitions. The name jack-o'-lantern can be traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a greedy, gambling, hard-drinking old farmer. He tricked the devil into climbing a tree and trapped him by carving a cross into the tree trunk. In revenge, the devil placed a curse on Jack, condemning him to forever wander the earth at night with the only light he had: a candle inside of a hollowed turnip. The costumes have to do with disguising ones’ self so the “evil spirits” won’t invade the body because the ancients believed evil spirits flew around October 31 looking for a “host”, but on November 1 they had to go back to where they came from. In essence, they were supposed to be confused. I like Halloween because it is then I can dress-up and be someone else without confusing people or having them wondering if I’ve lost my mind.

Prayer for the day: Dear Lord, please give me the grace to see a joke, to get some humor out of life, and pass it on to other.

Food for thought: If the “mountain” you’re trying to climb were smooth, you wouldn’t be able to climb it. I thought about this and it’s true. You’d keep sliding back to where you were instead of progressing to the next level.

DEAR ABBY ADMITTED SHE WAS AT A LOSS TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:Dear Abby, A couple of women moved in across the hall from me. One is a middle-aged gym teacher and the other is a social worker in her mid twenties. These two women go everywhere together, and I've never seen a man go into or leave their apartment. Do you think they could be Lebanese? Dear Abby, What can I do about all the Sex, Nudity, Fowl Language and Violence on my VCR? Dear Abby, I have a man I can't trust. He cheats so much, I'm not even sure the baby I'm carrying is his. Dear Abby, I am a twenty-three year old liberated woman who has been on the pill for two years. It's getting expensive and I think my boyfriend should share half the cost, but I don't know him well enough to discuss money with him. Dear Abby, I've suspected that my husband has been fooling around, and when confronted with the evidence, he denied everything and said it would never happen again. Dear Abby, Our son writes that he is taking Judo. Why would a boy who was raised in a good Christian home turn against his own?Dear Abby, I joined the Navy to see the world. I've seen it. Now how do I get out? Dear Abby, My forty year old son has been paying a psychiatrist $50.00 an hour every week for two and a half years. He must be crazy. Dear Abby, I was married to Bill for three months and I didn't know he drank until one night he came home sober. Dear Abby, My mother is mean and short tempered I think she is going through mental pause. Dear Abby, You told some woman whose husband had lost all interest in sex to send him to a doctor. Well, my husband lost all interest in sex and he is a doctor. Now what do I do? Remember, these people can vote and some even breed!! Unfortunately, this is a reality check for those of us who are rational.

Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc., and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons. -Douglas Adams, writer, dramatist, and musician (1952-2001)

I agree with the dolphins. It is more fun to swim all day, eat fish, and play around AND be considered pretty smart. Also, have a staring role in a movie and television show doing what comes naturally.

THINGS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:
1. Innovative 2. Preliminary 3. Proliferation 4. Cinnamon
5. Linoleum 6. Aluminum

THINGS THAT ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:
1. Specificity 2. Anti-constitutionalistically 3. Passive-aggressive disorder 4. Transubstantiate 5. Floccinaucinihilipilification
6. Perplexing, precipitous precipice (Try it 3 times fast sober)

THINGS THAT ARE DOWNRIGHT IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY WHEN DRUNK: 1. No thanks, I'm married. 2. Nope, no more booze for me! 3. Sorry, but you're not really my type. 4. No thanks, I'm not hungry. 5. Good evening, officer. Isn't it lovely out tonight? 6. Oh, I couldn't! No one wants to hear me sing karaoke. 7. I'm not interested in fighting you. 8. Thank you, but I won't make any attempt to dance, I have no coordination. I'd hate to look like a fool! 9. I must be going home now, as I have to work in the morning.

“Mom, what does ‘hot’ mean?” asked 17 year old Stephen. I told him the thermodynamics and physics of the word, used it in a sentence, gave experienced examples, and then noticed his quizzical look. “Was that enough for you to understand what ‘hot’ means, and why do you ask?” I questioned. “Well, I’m confused because Kari said I was ‘hot’, and I hadn’t even been running. I don’t think I’m all those things you said.” Our language is so complicated anymore. Remember when “cool” was a drop in temperature; “coke” was a soda pop made my a major corporation; “bite” meant to take away something with your teeth; and, “blackberry” was a fruit?

The big guy feels pretty good, except for the days when it is going to rain. Then, the old bones and joints remind him that he needs to complain about something. He's usually very content. He tells me it's my job to complain and he doesn't want me to be unemployed. What a smart ass!

One of my girlfriends came over the other day. She was talking about good books to read. She mentioned someone had told her she was like a good book. Then, she wondered what that meant. I told her, “Sometimes you may feel like your “binding" is frayed, “pages” are worn and turning yellow with age, but like a good book, one returns to it for comfort or just to hold its contents close to their heart, or perhaps to talk to it as a sounding board knowing full-well the secrets told are safe. You keep secrets well and are easy to talk with. Enjoy the analogy, sweetie.” She smiled.

Try saying these three times fast: perplexing, precipitous precipice; Shel Shleeps’ sick sheep slipped.; Shiftless shrimp ships sit silently.

Brenduhh came over the other day. ‘Seems she’s becomean airline stewardess. She said she likes the job and all the perks which go with it. A lawyer boarded her plane in New Orleans with a box of frozen Dungeness crabs and asked her to take care of them for him. She took the box and promised to put it in the crew's refrigerator. He advised her that he was holding her personally responsible for them staying frozen, mentioning in a very haughty manner that he was an attorney, and then proceeded to rant about what would happen if she let them thaw out. Needless to say, she was annoyed by his behavior. Shortly before landing in New York, she told me she used the intercom to announce to the entire cabin, "Would the gentleman who gave me the crabs in New Orleans, please raise your hand?" “Not one hand went up ... so I took them home and ate them. Here are 4 for you. Can you imagine him not wanting to claim these, Trudy? However, I’m glad he didn’t.” I told her she was so nice to share them with me.

Before the currency was centrally issued in the US, each bank printed its own currency notes. Often these notes were not backed by capital and were risky. It's said that the notes by one of those banks featured a drawing of a wildcat. From there the term wildcat took the sense of anything risky, rash, or unreliable. It's now used in many senses allusively, such as a wildcat well: an exploratory oil well in an area not known to be productive; a wildcat strike: a rash strike not sanctioned by a union official.

And y’all thought it was just a word coming out of nowhere.

Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You. -Dr. Seuss, author and illustrator (1904-1991). There is a lot of wisdom in what Dr. Seuss has to say. Sometimes it seems nonsensical, but actually it makes sense. Referring to this quote, have you ever thought, “Would the world/my family/my friends want two of me? Would I want to deal with two of me?” Only you know the answer.

I am on the Sermon Starter Team at my church. About once a month our minister notifies those on the team about what his topic is and their input. Here is what he wrote and my reply to his questions. I was sort of batting zero at that time after the morning's episode with Stephen, age 16, and a real dip wad at that time…in my opinion. Rev. Joe What walls do we have to take down? Does God take them down for us or, does God give us the strength to do it ourselves? Do we need greater faith, or a bigger God? Why are there difficulties in life? My response: I believe God gives us the "tools" to take them down. What we do with those tools and how we use them is up to us. He gives us the strength IF we include Him; then, it is not as difficult. If we leave Him out, it is next to impossible with the results being tarnished and not as good as they could have been. We don't need a bigger God; how can one need a bigger God when He is OMNI--omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient? Our faith is what needs to increase. We NEED to truly wallow and believe Hebrews 11:1. Secularly there are "difficulties" so we will grow. The pessimist is here so he will know what he is missing; the optimist is here so he will know what he doesn't want to miss. Right now I'm most distraught with 17 year old Mr. Mouth and don't even want to talk to God about it, because I figure He already knows how I feel and what I'd say. The last of September was TALK LIKE A PIRATE day. Well, I'm extending that. Thus------"Aarragghhh, I take no prisoners, so walk the gang plank, you scallywag."

Here are some statements about words. I believe words are the paint on the canvas of our thoughts.

"By words the mind is winged." Aristophanes "All words are pegs to hang ideas on." Henry Ward Beecher "Words are things; and a small drop of ink Falling like dew upon a thought, produces That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think."
George Gordon, Lord Byron "One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones form themselves
into the proper patterns at the right moment." Hart Crane
"You can stroke people with words." F. Scott Fitzgerald "Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assault of thoughts on the unthinking." John Maynard Keynes "Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind." Rudyard Kipling "Words are a lens to focus one's mind." Ayn Rand "Uttering a word is like striking a note on the keyboard of the imagination." Ludwig Wittgenstein. Without words how would we know exactly what someone was thinking? “Actions speak louder than words”; oh yes, however, with words accompanying them, we convey a clearer meaning to our actions. Just as without a brush, spatula, pen, pencil, or other means of application, the artist cannot express their feelings or thoughts.

I have our home cleaned by two gals every other week. On the daythey are expected I tell the kids, “Clean up your rooms real well; the girls are coming today to clean.” Their confused reply, “But Mom that is their job.” My, polished, reply, “I’m not paying them to come and clean-up your room before they clean it.” Imagine the looks, folks; imagine the looks.

The kids are counting down the HOURS to Halloween!! Gods! and it's a daily announcement, too. I think I'll have them figure the minutes and seconds. That will keep them busy because I've hidden the calculators. They only have 10 fingers and toes. ‘Should take a while.

This was sent to me by my daughter-in-law. It is a religious perspective from my 3 year old granddaughter. “The other night while saying bedtime prayers, CJ and I say "Now I Lay me Down to Sleep" prayer and I try to explain that we can also just "talk" to God about our day and stuff. I asked her if she wanted to say anything to God. CJ said, "YOU talk to God, Mommy. I want to talk to that Other Guy." Daughter-in-law: “Who? You mean Jesus?"
CJ: "Yeah, Jeeezus; that guy." Then she proceeds to thank Jesus for every piece of play equipment in the park that we went to that day. CJ: "Now I have to tell God, too, Mommy," and repeats the whole thing, in case God the Father wasn't paying attention to her talk with the "other guy".” In this Grammie’s opinion it’s: Money for the playground equipment…$15,000; Talkin’ to that “other guy”--- PRICELESS.

The word "aerobics" was invented when the gym instructors got together and said: "If we're going to charge $20 an hour, we can't call it Jumping Up and Down."

Until next month, as always, Trudy J