"Keep Christmas with you all through the year"*

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays! One of my favorite things to do this time of year is to make sugar cookies with my niece and nephews...and this year I had my own little one with me. Granted, The Boy is still too little to really enjoy the whole cookie-making experience, but I couldn't leave him out just because of that.

As the kids grow, the cookies just get better and better. And we even had a gingerbread house to decorate too.

Can you guess which ones are mine?

*David Axlerod and Sam Pottle

"You better listen to your mama"*

The ladies and I had a lovely brunch yesterday to celebrate Mother's Day. The weather was gorgeous and several of us kept the festivities going when we walked around the green and checked out a craft fair.

With my status as mother-to-be I got my first ever Mother's Day presents in the form of cards, flowers, and delicious homemade banana bread (thanks goes out to The Boy...yup, it's a boy!). The hubby decorated the refrigerator with ultrasound pictures of the little guy, but that wasn't the only thing that ended up on the refrigerator.

That's right! As with all the gatherings at my house, the guests were encouraged to express themselves with poetry. There was a whole new crop of words that had been added to the magnetic poetry kit since the last installment and the phrases were flowing. Here's what the guests had to say:

• spring morning garden leave s little want ing (there's nothing I can really add to this beautiful sentiment...but notice I still added something by pointing that out)


• imagine sweet dream s (if only it were as simply as imagining them and they came true)


• a spark ly puddle is an inspiration for play time (probably true for most children, not so much for most adults)


• easy trick bake good rain love (ummm...that's what she said? maybe not, but I couldn't go without saying it)


• always taste summer and fear not to drink the gentle breeze (I think the awesome weather really inspired the guests to new levels of poetic beauty)


• do squirrel s experience emotion (it's a burning question that I know so many of us have been wondering and I'm glad someone finally asked it)

As always, thanks to those who contributed. What kind of poetic inspiration have you been experiencing lately?

*Jason Mraz

"Turn the Page"*

As we turn the page on 2010 to a new one on 2011 (yeah, yeah, pretty corny!), I've been thinking about the pages and pages I've read this year, which just happens to be enough fill 65 books (not to mention all the magazines, newspapers, blogs, and cereal boxes I've read). Interestingly that was the same exact number of book I read in 2009. I had hoped to read more books in 2010, but I put reading somewhat aside in the second half of the year in order to give myself more writing time, or as was often the case, more revising time.

Throughout the year, I featured the book trailers of some of my favorite books, including my absolute most favoritest book of the year: The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson (which my twin-not-twin sister gave to me for my b-day). I also picked up a bunch of signed books (some of which are still on my to-read list): Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko (which came highly recommended by my 11-year-old nephew), Dead Girl Walking by Linda Joy Singleton, and Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock to name a few.

In honor of Banned Books Week, I draped myself in only banned/challenged books. After reading that post, a certain book buddy of mine gave me The Giver by Lois Lowry when she found out I didn't have my own copy.

As for 2011 in addition to print books, I've now had my Nook for over a year and hope to add to my Nook book collection. At Girls' Christmas a new book bag was started. Basically, a group of us girls pass around the bag of books and when it's out turn to have the bag, we can read none/any/all of the books in it and write in the enclosed journal if we choose to. Then you take out any books you had previously put in and add more books if you want to.

Up next, I've got some 2011 releases I'm really, really looking forward to reading! Enter a great contest on Anna Staniszewski's blog to maybe win some of those books. What were your favorite books of the year?

*Bob Seger

"C Is For Cookie"*

It just wouldn't have been a complete Christmas without making cookies with the nephews and niece. I love to see the creativity come out of each of them in different ways.

(This is just a sampling of the cookies we made. I don't think any of them are mine. I played around with different combinations of black and white frosting this year.)

My 11-year-old nephew is my writing buddy. We pack up our laptops and head out to the local cafe or Barnes & Noble and work on our projects (and eat too). He has a fast mind that's always churning away, so he works feverishly on projects (and sometimes has trouble finishing them). He has always liked to draw figures, from baseball players to super-heroes, so it was no surprise that he turned some of the cookies into his favorite music artists.

My 5-year-old niece is a girl's girl. She loves princesses, her favorite colors are pink and purple, and she often compliments me on a cute shirt or accessory. She is also very creative and passionate in her pursuits, especially drawing and coloring. She was the last kid standing when it came to decorating.

My 4-year-old nephew is what I like to call mechanically creative. He's a very literal little boy, who watches and explores how things move and work. He is also super sweet and indulges his auntie when she asks for a little "sugar" (hug and kisses) or to eat his cheeks, which have the cutest dimples. He tends to be very methodical with his creations.

(From left to right: we have Squidword as made by my little nephew, a trendy snow lady complete with rosy cheeks courtesy of my niece, and Michael Jackson as envisioned by my older nephew.)

Naturally I forgot to bring my camera this year, so thanks to my mom (and here is where my brother would say, "Thanks to your mom!") for the pictures. What are your favorite traditions?

*Joe Raposo (as sung by Cookie Monster)

"Choppy words in a sloppy flow"*

We had a little cookout and backyard fire over Labor Day weekend. My refrigerator is now kind of famous at these little shindigs because of the magnetic poetry kit.

(So this picture isn't really from my backyard (you think!). That's way more fires and way more people than would fit on my .2 acres. It's from a recent trip to the WaterFire Providence.)

The party-goers were in rare form, and there was one line of poetry I'm not going to include in full...just to give you an idea of its flavor, the poet put the tiles "an" and "al" together and it also contained the tiles "long," "green," "pickle," and "spurt" (somehow it always turn dirty...that's what she said!).

• i am an old bald devil dog who has a free soul and love s to eat (nice to see the old bald devil dog is enjoying life)


• speak wrong mind but think from heart (ahhh...very wise, grasshopper)


• pour some wine and soon you must table dance as hot as a random spider genius (the "a" tile is actually "at" with the t covered...I have such clever--and demented/drunk--guests)


• if i vacuum a precious monkey chicken it will release a black bosom tremendous ly naked (well, you better not vacuum the precious monkey chicken then)


• sweet night whisper e d her light poet r y to my howl ing brain (I hope the night's poetry was better than the magnetic poetry...really, I kid because I do love it when people make poetry on my refrigerator)

Thanks to all who created a little fun on the fridge!

*Linkin Park

"Time to be a ghost"*

Let's start with a bit of a digression: links to three contests. One is to win R.J. Anderson's book Knife over at Cindy Pon's blog. A second contest is a book giveaway at the Class of 2k10 blog. The last is for a MG/YA agent contest over at Guide to Literary Agents. And now back to our regularly scheduled post!

The other night the hubby yelled to me from the living room, "You've gotta come see this!" I had just gotten out of the shower and was still in my towel, but it sounded urgent, so I dutifully obeyed. He pointed at the TV and asked, "Do you recognize this place?"

Without hesitation I said, "It's where we got married." I was thinking that it was pretty cool that the Nutmeg Restaurant was on TV...that is until I realized that it was being featured on an A&E show called Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal. Then I started thinking Okay, that's kind of freaky.

Check out this video to see the episode of Psychic Kids (you might notice the above chandelier in it). The restaurant doesn't come in until the 9:28 mark, and the 11:22 mark is when things really start to get scary. The "loft" is where the girl says she feels a ghostly presence and that was where my bridesmaids and I got dressed before the wedding.

When I thought about it, I remembered we did have a bit of a ghostly experience in the loft. We tried to open the window and all of a sudden it fell out of the track. By all laws of physics, the window should've gone crashing to the ground, but it didn't. Something caught it and it teetered there, jutting out a weird angle. Here's one of the guys from the restaurant trying to put the window back in place.


Come to think of it, my whole wedding seemed kind of cursed. We had originally booked a boat on the Connecticut River, but six months before the date, I got a piece of certified mail with the deposit check (at least I got my money back) and note that said the docking site had been bought out and we'd have to find a new place to have our wedding. That was no easy task, considering we had already booked the D.J. and photographer and couldn't really change the date. (In wedding time, six months is like two days!)

Luckily the Nutmeg Restaurant was available, so we booked it right up. Then a few days before the date we found out the wedding planner there was "let go." That meant the main person we had been working with to plan our entire wedding was not going to be working there on the wedding day. It also poured for 13 (gotta love lucky 13) straight days leading up to the wedding. It poured so hard that the hotel we stayed at the night before had massive leaking. And that was just the big things, never mind the million little snafus that happened.

Oh, and I just remembered that my sister accidentally left her dress in the loft after the wedding. The hubby and I went back the next day to try and find dress and to pick up a few other things that had been forgotten. The dress was no where to be seen! (There was a wedding after ours, and it's possible someone from that wedding took it, but now that I know about the ghost, I'm blaming it on him.)

Turns out the actual wedding was awesome. The ceremony was personal (and brief), the food was delicious, and the dance floor was packed most of the day. The sun even came out in the afternoon. I guess it wasn't so bad having a haunted wedding site.

*Tori Amos

"It's all about the wordplay"*

Girls' Christmas (my "sisters" and I get together every year for a girls-and-kids-only Christmas party) was relocated to my house at the last minute, so I requested that my guests create a sentence with the magnetic poetry kit on my refrigerator. Here's what we came up with (as usual, I put a space in between each magnet to show the creative combinations):

• love people like they a r e obedient prostitute s (I would think any obedient prostitute is easy to love, so this could be a new logo for world peace or something!)
• experience perfect pleasure through bald chicken rhythm dance ing (I'd like to see bald chicken rhythm dancing...or on second thought, maybe I wouldn't.)
• spark random inspiration speak every thought investigate precious emotion (lather, rinse, repeat)
• electric transgress ion s will burn holy fire (That's what she said!)
• the devil s skeleton is suck ing seed y sweet & sour soup (Nice alliteration...who knew the devil's skeleton liked Chinese food?)

In other word news, my sister, niece, and nephews are trying to get the word "poink" into mainstream vocabulary. This started when my three-year-0ld nephew told my sister he didn't want to sit in one of the dining-room chairs because it had a "pionk." My sister asked, "What's a poink?" So he showed her a broken chair rung that was sticking into his back. They now use the word regularly.

Poink has actually turned out to be very versatile. It can be a noun, as in the original sense: That needle has a sharp poink. It can be a verb, literally: Ouch! That needle just poinked me. It can be a verb, figuratively: Oh, you just got poinked. It can be an adjective: That needle is very poinky.

I checked out the urban dictionary and found some interesting definitions for poink and poinky. I recommend everyone tries to use poink in a sentence today.

*Jason Mraz (Yup, I'm kind of obsessed with his music lately!)

"The Dynamo of Volition"*

I haven't made a New Year's resolution in quite a few years. I find them somewhat arbitrary and limiting. Just because it's January 1st, doesn't mean that it's the right time for me to set a certain goal. Maybe I just like to buck tradition, but I kind of enjoy the freedom of not having a resolution. And let's be honest, most people who make resolutions fail (according to Wikipedia...which is, of course, always right...only 12% succeed).

Many resolutions are fitness and/or diet related. Seeing as I prefer to exercise outside and I live in New England, creating an exercise goal in the middle of winter doesn't seem like a good idea (really, I'm just setting myself up for failure). As for diet, well I tend to try and be good all year long—admittedly with varying degrees of success—and I always try and be more careful after the usual holiday indiscretions (indigestions?).

A lot of my writing friends make writing resolutions. Right now, I'm working on revising a MG novel, I'm writing a first draft of a YA novel, and I'm considering doing another round of revisions on a YA novel that I had been sending out to editors and agents. I'm attending a writing conference in early April, so I'm planning my writing deadlines around that.

I prefer not to limit myself to one time of year for making resolutions. I see each and every day as a new opportunity to work on being a better person. That also means if a day goes by and I didn't exactly meet my goal, there's always tomorrow. Just in the last few weeks, I realized I haven't been stretching myself as a human being much lately, so I came up with a kind of crazy idea (which I'll be blogging about in the near future) to amp up my own level of introspection.

For those of you who do like to make resolutions, I'd love to hear what they are so I can help cheer you on along the way.

*Jason Mraz

"Fill up the stocking"*

Holiday traditions come in all shapes in sizes. As a kid, one of my favorite Christmas traditions was when Santa would leave our filled stockings for us at the end of our beds. It was so exciting to wake up on Christmas morning and not even have to get out of bed to find our first presents.

All five of us (my two older sisters, me, my younger sister, and my younger brother) used to gather together on one bed and open up all out stocking gifts. As my older sisters got older, us younger kids used to open up our stockings first, then we'd go wake up my older sisters and watch them open up their stockings. This was a nice tradition for my parents too because it meant they got to sleep in a little later.

Oh, and we always got oranges in our stockings, which seems like it would be lame, but I remember it as a nice treat. The orange-in-the-stocking tradition is one that carried over into my adult life (it seems Santa remembers about such things even as we get older). Many of the traditions I had as a kid have faded away, but many new ones have taken their places.

Making Christmas cookies with my niece and nephew is one of those new, but at the same time old, traditions. I used to make Christmas cookies with my Nana (my great grandmother). Then she stopped coming up north for the holidays because it was just too cold for her. She passed away at the ripe old age of 96, but I feel a little like I'm carrying on her tradition in a new way with my sister's kids.

Unlike last year, we didn't have any lady-licking incidences this year, but I paid homage to that by making a snowman and gingerbread lady the centerpiece of my cookies.

(These are the cookies I decorated...notice the snowman and his gingerbread wife.)

(My ten-year-old nephew decorated these cookies. He and his friend also made a really cool gingerbread house of Hagrid's hut, but I forgot to take a picture of it.)

(My four-year-old niece decorated these. She was very meticulous and seemed to have a grand plan for each one.)

(These ones were decorated by my three-year-old nephew...he did most of the decorating by himself, but my sister did give him some help with the big gingerbread lady!)

(And because I didn't want my sister to feel left out, here's her cookies, including the big gingerbread lady.)

It was definitely a fun afternoon. What are your favorite holiday traditions?

*Jerry Herman

"By the Light of the Silvery Moon"*

As I drove home from work yesterday, it was already pretty dark (it's such a bummer how early it gets dark this time of year) and my eyes were drawn to the sky. Against the slate-colored December sky was the brilliant light of an almost full moon. This was not the first time I had the pleasure of such a sight.

Later in the evening, I walked into my bedroom to find the bed blanketed in the silver moonlight. And last night, my hubby thought he was going to have to run in the dark, but the moon lit the way for him. Unfortunately, we didn't get to do anything by the light of the silvery (and full) moon tonight; it's raining.

I was playing with settings on my camera when I took this picture and somehow the moon came out with a weird double image. The detail on the leaves is pretty cool, though. This full moon occurred in October 2008. That full moon brought out the weirder side of people. I haven't noticed much oddness yet today, but there's more than an hour left in the day...plenty of time for erratic behavior.

Since it's only the second day of the month, I started to wonder if there was going to be another full moon this month, also known as a blue moon (which is also a popular beer!). Turns out the second full moon this month just happens to fall on the 31st, which means we'll all be bringing in the New Year with a blue moon (too bad we won't be bringing in the New Year with a New Moon).

I also learned an interesting tidbit about blue moons: there's actually two different kinds of blue moons (and neither of them have to do with painting your butt). There's the one that is occurring this month, which is two full moons in a single month, the second of which is called a blue moon. This is actually fairly rare—hence the term "once in a blue moon"—and the next one doesn't occur until August 2012.

There's also the Farmer's Almanac definition of a blue moon, which is technically a true blue moon. This occurs when there are four, instead of the more common three, full moons in a single season. Instead of calling the final full moon of the season the blue moon, the third full moon is the blue moon. This is also fairly rare. There will be this kind of blue moon in November 2010 and then again in August 2013.

Okay, how many times can I write the word "moon" in a single post? Everything in excess I always say. Happy full moon!

*Edward Madden

"Happy birthday to you"*

The hubby turned 30 today, and he's kind of been freaking out about this milestone birthday for some time. The other day he said something along the lines of, "Well, I may as well just die now because I'll be 30 soon and my life will be over then anyway." (He was kidding, of course, but I'm pretty sure there was a kernel of truth to him feeling that a certain aspect of his life would be over once he turned 30.)

In honor of this momentous occasion, here are some major accomplishments people have made after the age of 30:

• "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" is published just shy of J.K. Rowling's 32nd birthday.
• As chronicled in the movie "The Rookie," 35-year-old Jim Morris makes his Major League Baseball debut pitching for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
• At the age of 37, Julia Child begins her culinary career by enrolling in the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school.
• Also at the age of 37, Tom Hanks wins his first Oscar for his role as Andrew Beckett in the movie "Philadelphia."
• John F. Kennedy becomes the youngest man to be elected into the office of President of the United States of America at the age of 43 years and 236 days.
• At the age of 52, Ray Kroc, with the support of Maurice and Richard McDonald, franchises the hamburger restaurant McDonald's.
• In an act of civil disobedience, 61-year-old Mahatma Gandhi leads the approximately 200-mile long Salt March.
• At the age of 73, Charlie Chaplin becomes a first-time father when his son Christopher is born.
• The first of edition of "Roget's Thesaurus" is published when Peter Mark Roget is 73 years old.
• Anna Mary Robertson (Grandma) Moses begins her career as a painter at the age of 76 years old.

As for my thoughts on age, I maintain the argument that you're only as old as you feel and that each birthday is a time to celebrate that you're still here, alive and kicking. I, for one, can only wish that my younger sister (who died when she was 16) got to see 30. Imagine all the things she would have gotten to do with an extra 14 years. That's why, although I don't relish the idea of getting older, I try to embrace it as an opportunity. Not everyone gets the opportunity to grow old, so I am honored each time I reach another birthday and try not to let it bother me as I continue to grow old(er).

*Unknown

"The monster mash, it was a graveyard smash"*

Now that it's almost October, I've decided it's not too early to share this little bit of silly Halloween fun. Courtesy of the Oriental Trading Company (which is a good place to shop if you're hosting a themed party), I made a Monster Mash-Up.

I created several of these with various people in my family and e-mailed the results to them. Admittedly, uploading and cropping those pictures to get the heads just right was way more fun than it should have been.

The one you got to see featured me, me, and more me (at various stages of my life). There's me at a Yankees game, me sitting in a river with shorts on my head while on a girls' camping trip, me in a swimming pool, me dressed up as a pirate for my Halloween party, and me sitting on a lawn with my sisters (we're all in dresses). I picked the rock version of the song because, of course, I'm a rock star!

So often, it's the little things in life that put a smile on my face. What makes you smile? (Oh, and if you decide to make your own Monster Mash-Up be sure to post a link for me...pretty please.)

*Bobby "Boris" Pickett

"I see hate and I see love when the world's on a string"*

While I was originally—as an eight-year-old—attracted to the bright colors and shiny finish of the Snow Village, I find—as an adult—there is another appeal to having it: control. I have all the power in my village. I decide where all the buildings go, where the people go...I'm in charge of everything. Bwahaha!!! (That's evil laughter in case you couldn't tell!)

This doesn't really surprise me. As a kid, I used to play with the vintage Fisher Price Little People. Remember how the people had no hands or legs. We had a school, a castle, houses, a barn, cars, all kinds of things. (By the way, my mom still has all these toys, and looking over these pictures and prices, I think she could make a bundle selling them!) I always loved setting them up and figuring out all the backgrounds for all the people, and then once that was over, I would hardly play with them. The fun was in the back story, and it was all mine to control.

I get that same sense of power from setting up my Snow Village. When all else in the world is out of whack, I have my quiet, peaceful, twinkling village. It's as beautiful and perfect as I want it to be. So, here's some pictures and commentary on this year's Village.

I decided that this year the Tudor-style log cabin is my home. I imagine it's next to a big snow mountain, but within walking distance to the center of town. (That is the Town Hall behind it.)

That's me in the wagon...the little blond girl holding the present. In previous years I have lived in the lighthouse (it's kind of small living quarters, though).

That's my nine-year-old nephew and his dog, Cashew. (My nephew gave me that piece.) He's in front of the Center for the Arts because he has my sense of creativity.

The clown always goes near the Hospital...in case there's any sick kids stuck there for the holidays. Notice the Library and Church in the background. Also, that's my dad (sorry I cut him off a bit) leading his horse, Beau.

My brother decided he wanted to be the kid in the party hat (he thought the kid was a wizard). It's more likely that my brother is actually the kid throwing the snowball! The lady with the balloons reminded me of my grandmother (and she is the one who started this whole Village, so I guess she should be in it!)

I decided that my husband is the delivery man this year. We met at Harrison's Hardware when we were in high school and the Gift Shop reminds me of that. (He wanted to be the fireman, but my brother-in-law is a fireman in real life, so he got that designation this year...maybe next year the hubby can be the fireman.) I love how the proportions of the people are way off compared to the buildings, doors, and vehicles.

This picture came out kind of psychedelic, which I thought was cool...and below is what this part of the Village (there's more than just this table!) looks like in the dark.

All those who stop by the house while my Village is still up are welcome and encouraged to find themselves in it.

*Our Lady Peace

"And the sky is a hazy shade of winter"*

More snow fell this morning. Worse than that, we're experiencing an extreme cold snap here in New England. My outdoor thermometer is reading 7.7 degrees right now (yes, that's Fahrenheit!). Winter is getting a bit old...and there's still over two months left of it.

A spot of winter brightness comes from a little collection of mine. My grandmother started a collection for each of my sisters and me on our eighth birthday. My two older sisters both collected Madame Alexander dolls. My younger sister ended up with a porcelain animal collection (I think made by Lennox).

When my turn came about, my grandmother took me to a store called Happy House in the mall. It was just the two of us, which made me feel very special (when you grow up in a family of seven getting one-on-one attention from an adult is a nice treat). And she was letting me pick out my collection all by myself.

Something caught my eye when I first walked into the store. It was a winter village with buildings that were bright colors and shiny. They were so pretty, and they lit up! I didn't want to be hasty, so I made sure to walk all around the store to see what else they had to offer. My eyes kept wandering back to that village, though, and that's what I picked.

Years later, my grandmother told me she tried her hardest to get me to pick almost anything else in the store. There were pewter figurines, Precious Moments figurines, and a bunch of other small collectibles to choose from. Apparently, my grandmother thought it would be better for me to pick something smaller than a village, seeing as there was seven of us living in a tiny two-bedroom house.

But I was eight and didn't care about practical matters like space, and besides my collection was starting with just one building. I may have been small myself (and I was even small for my age...I always said if my siblings and I had been a litter of dogs, I would've been the runt that got drowned), but I certainly wasn't thinking small. I now have over twenty buildings and countless accessories in my Snow Village. It's still growing too, although not as rapidly as when my grandmother used to add to it twice a year (once on my birthday and again on Christmas).

I currently have it displayed in two different rooms on a total of three different surfaces. I'm a bit more discriminate when I add a large piece to it these days because I don't want to have to buy a second house just to accommodate the village. There's just something about the yellow lights radiating from all the windows and all the smiling people bustling around town that projects a warmth...even though it's the Snow Village.

Stay tuned for pictures!

*Simon and Garfunkel

"If you're worried and you can't sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep"*

One of the blessings I have been able to count on this holiday season is that my nine-year-old nephew still thinks hanging out with his old aunt is fun. We have movie nights, we cook together, we talk books. It's all good, but I know it won't last. He'll be a teenager soon (too soon!), and teenagers don't think their aunts—even not-so-old ones—are cool.

We recently got together at my sister's house to make Christmas cookies. Surprisingly, my three-year-old niece and two-year-old nephew abandoned their Christmas video to come help us.

My little nephew got a bit anxious as we were cooking and decorating the cookies. A gingerbread woman and a gingerbread man were the only raw cookies left on the table. While I helped my niece with the sprinkles and my sister helped my older nephew with the frosting, my little nephew helped himself to the gingerbread lady.

He boldly proclaimed, "I'm gonna lick the lady!"

Now, my little nephew speaks very clearly, and my sister and I both heard him and understood him. At any given time in my sister's house, one of the kids is bound to be making some noise. Usually it's quiet singing or talking to no one in particular, but this time my little nephew was actually making an announcement. My sister and I made the mistake of not taking his announcement seriously. So, sure enough, he licked the gingerbread lady.

Then he said, "I'm gonna lick the man!"

Before my sister or I could stop him, he leaned over the table and licked the gingerbread man. Well, there's no sense in wasting licked cookies, so we cooked them up and wrote his name on them with edible gel.

Here's a few of our creations:

*Irving Berlin

"I was working in the lab late one night when my eyes beheld an eerie sight"*

I have a firefighter, the Joker, and Uniqua (from the Backyardigans) coming to visit me tonight! In honor of this haunted evening, I have compiled a list a superstitions that go beyond black cats and broken mirrors:

• To keep evil spirits away on Halloween night you can ring a bell, tie a knot in a handkerchief, or burn a candle in a jack-o-lantern.
• Beware, though, if the candle suddenly blows out of its own accord or if it turns blue (or if a bat flies into your house) because any of those things mean a ghost is visiting.
• Oh, and only burn new candles on Halloween...unless you want strange things to happen (to each his own, right?).
• No need to fear seeing a spider on Halloween night, though, because it's only the spirit of a dead loved one watching over you.
• Do fear if a bat flies around your house three times, or if you and a group of people just happen to light a bonfire, let it burn out, then make a circle with its ashes, and have each family who helped with the fire put a pebble in the ashes, and one of those pebbles is disturbed by the next morning as both of these occurrences are death omens.
• Also do not under any circumstances sit beside a Hawthorn tree on Halloween night because a fairy may enchant you or spirit you away.
• However, if you would like to find out about your future, simply go to a crossroads on Halloween night and listen to the wind (Is that what happens when you put your ear up to seashell?).
• Other ways to learn about your future include tossing apple peals over your shoulder so they will fall in the shape of you future lover's initials and putting cornmeal on the side of your bed so a ghost can spell out your future sweetheart's name.
• Or maybe you want to help someone else in love. On Halloween night, bury a ring in the mashed potatoes and whoever gets the ring will find his or her true love (or maybe he or she will just choke to death); or host a chestnut hunt, and the first person to find a burr will be the first to marry; or even have your friends bob for apples because the first one to bite into an apple will be the first to marry.
• For all you witch hunters (or maybe all you fans of Kris Kross), put your clothes on inside out (or backwards) and walk around backwards on Halloween night so you can meet a witch. To find out if she really is a witch, just tie her up and toss her in the water. If she floats, she's a witch; if she sinks, she wasn't a witch (and you didn't want to know her anyway!).
• Two final things to beware of on Halloween night are feeling a chill up your spine or hearing footsteps behind you (probably while you're on your way to the crossroads); the former means someone is walking on your future grave, and the latter means the Grim Reaper is following you (don't look back...meet the Grim Reaper's eyes and you die!).

I can't wait to see what other ghoulies and ghosties show up for treats...or maybe they'll all just get tricks!

*Bobby "Boris" Pickett