Greetings Everyone!
It is October, my favorite month!
Ray Bradbury, who can be considered as the patron
saint of October, describes the last day of the month in his book The
Halloween Tree—a book that adults as well as children should read to get
into the spirit of this timeless season.
“It was the afternoon of Halloween. And all the houses shut against a cool wind.
And the town full of cold sunlight. But suddenly, the day was gone.
Night came out from under each tree and
spread.....Anyone could see that the wind was a special wind this night and the
darkness took on a special feel because it was All Hallows’ Eve. Everything
seemed cut from soft black velvet or gold or orange velvet. Smoke panted up out of a thousand chimneys
like the plumes of funeral parades.....”
These words seem to be permeated with death. The cold wind; the velvet cerements; the
funeral plumes; all of these seem to be a threat.
But Halloween is not about death. It is about life.
The candle burning in the jack o’ lantern is life and,
perhaps, the celebration of the everlasting life to come after death.
JLS
