Halloween in June

I’ll admit it. Fall is my favorite season, and while I should enjoy every season as they come, I have a problem. I’ve been fixated on Halloween. Generally, I keep this in check, but last week I fell off the wagon. Let’s just say I’ve had a few “triggers” over the past week. Let’s start with Lagoon. For starters, I can’t go to Lagoon without thinking about Frightmares.

• On Saturday, I rode the Terror ride and ventured through Dracula’s Castle which are opened year-round.
• I ate a snow cone under an archway that lied beneath the belly of a large wrought-iron spider.
• Shrieks of terror could be heard as roller coasters riveted and plummeted due to excess velocity.
• I saw a flailing cell phone spin through the air and plummet to its death.
• I could hear the sound of a carousel, and see paint chipping off of a wooden bench that had a fortune teller’s face carved into it, and thought, “how quaint.”
• Caramel apples on little sheets of wax paper were displayed behind windowed facades that gave me the impression of peering into the back side of an old van.

This gave me flashbacks to a year in which my family acquired access to a van that had been impounded and had never been claimed.  Opening that van was like watching a bad episode of storage wars. Inside, there was a large green fuzzy blanket with a Lilly on it, some firecrackers, and a bottle of tequila that had a worm in it. (Can I just make reference to Poltergeist or Practical Magic here?)

The biggest score was that there was an entire stack of Goosebumps books in the back. My girls and I read them all. From there, we moved on to checking out every creepy carnival movie from Goosebumps to Something Wicked This Way Comes, and eventually we moved on to Stephen King’s It. To this day, I can’t attend anything that resembles a carnival or off the grid theme park without giving it some sort of creepy connotation.

 Another reason why I am feeling anticipation for Halloween is that I am excited for the upcoming opening of Evermore Park.  This has been on my peripheral radar for weeks. I am thrilled that something this exquisite could be happening so close to me. A friend of mine has been sculpting gargoyles and demons for the project and I’ve been getting the inside scoop. The park will have a sort-of Charles Dickens meets Edgar Allan Poe feel to it.

I’ve recently had to analyze The Purloined Letter for a class I’m taking on Literary Theory. This reminded me of my vow that THIS will be the year that I am going to break down and buy those Edgar Allan Poe tights I’ve been wanting. A little Poe never goes out of style. I would definitely consider being part of the Edgar Allan Poe society if it actually exists beyond Stars Hollow, and old episodes of the Gillmore Girls. (which used to follow the television series Charmed by the way).

In another class, I examined Alice Hoffman’s website. This of course lead me down the path to Practical Magic, and the idea that we all have a “little witch in us.” I searched Word Press on this subject and ran across many blogs about the evils of Wicca and witchcraft. I am not a self-proclaimed wiccan but I do admit to utilizing a little practical magic every now and again.

Does having an herb garden, drinking occasional tonics and spirits, and reading books about midwifery and magic make one a witch?  I can admit it. I like crystals. I’m a follower of my cousin’s gem site, and maybe I put too much stock in salt lamps and essential oils. There are talismans and totems in my home from other countries, such as my Shisa dogs from Okinawa, and an aboriginal necklace from Australia meant to bring feelings of bliss. I also won’t venture out on the water on family trips to Moon Lake due to Native American superstition that it is cursed.

If you think about it, aren’t we all into something that may be considered a little metaphysical, superstitious, or divinely feminine? Do we harbor items in our homes, or adorn ourselves with items that may carry meaning for us? Have we all experienced the wonder of our own intuition? Do each of us have our own rituals? I would even consider the photo gallery and knick-knacks that are displayed on my piano to be a type of altar. Some of these items even commemorate the dead.

A friend of mine, whose boundaries may be a little less obscure for all things magic, made me some tomato soup once from a recipe she found in a book titled Wicca For Lovers. It was divine. We accompanied it with some herbed focaccia bread and a bottle of Harvest Blend Riesling (St. Chappelle).  We may have even been listening to the soundtrack to Practical Magic or Stevie Nicks. Was there any magic in that soup? I don’t know. I can only say that I still carry strong feelings of sentiment for that meal to this day.

I have made it a priority to locate that recipe so I can simmer it on my stove. I might make some herbed artisan bread to go with it or bake a pumpkin flavored bundt cake, even though it’s nowhere near harvest time. I’m currently working on laying out an herb garden and plans are in the works for making labels for my own apothecary. Perhaps revamping my pantry will make it appear like it belongs on the set of Practical Magic. I confess, that movie carries with it the groundwork of ideas for what I have planned for revamping my kitchen.

The  motivation for all of this is that a friend of mine has recently opened a sustainable earth-friendly market that is about eliminating excess plastics. It is called Hello Bulk Markets. The idea is that you bring your own containers, weigh them, fill them, and the aesthetic that it adds to your pantry is an added bonus.  A good Alice Hoffman read is also in order. A poetry teacher of mine recommended Black Bird House and the Dovekeepers. I am sure I will have plenty more to blog about before all of this is over. This is how I anticipate celebrating Halloween in June.