Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Halloween has come and gone, but Santa Barbara pumpkin picking memories remain.

Halloween-Themed Post #5

And now for my favorite bit of Halloween trivia, which may also be my favorite bit of any sort trivia. I learned this fact from Aisling, who learned it from Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire, a great book which chronicles the history of the potato, the tulip, the apple, and cannabis. It should be no surprise that, historically, women who were deemed "witches" were more precisely wise women, healers, diviners, etc., which also made them skilled botanists. Here, in a NPR interview, Pollan explains one of the mixtures these botanists brewed...

Gardens—you know, it's a little old lady pastime now, but in the old days it was powerful. I mean, people had an appreciation of the power of plants to change consciousness... you had the witches' gardens where they were making up these— they call them flying ointments. And when you talk about witches flying on broomsticks, they're really talking about tripping and applying drugs with— broomsticks was a euphemism for dildos.

Really brings a whole new meaning to "flying on a broomstick". Just keep that in mind tonight when you see all those cute little girls dressed as witches wielding their broomsticks. Way to reappropriate that one, Hallmark.

Halloween-Themed Post #4

Another great Dzula creation. Stay tuned for my own Halloween trivia tomorrow...

Halloween-Themed Post #3

Emma was feeling punny.

Halloween-Themed Post #2

Favorite Halloween costumes of the past.

LITTLE BO PEEP: I was five, my brother was barely one, and he got to go as my sheep.

ENCHANTRESS: This the closest I've ever been to dressing up as a witch (don't tell the cooperative preschool). I never wanted to be something scary or gory, so this was an elegant compromise. I've maintained my dislike of dressing in frightening Halloween costumes to this day. In fact, the only use of fake blood in a costume of mine has been a very tasteful bloody nose the year I dressed up as Mia Wallace.

PIERROT THE CLOWN: I think I was at least 10 years old the year I dressed up as this Commedia dell'Arte character. Kind of a bizarre choice considering my friends were dressing as cowgirls or hippies, but in hindsight, I'm glad I had the guts to go for it.

MAD HATTER: One year, Miranda (my elementary school best friend) and I thought we were very cool for assembling our costumes out of second hand items found at Aardvark's on Melrose. We also sacrificed our entire collection of band-aids (unused!) to decorate our old Converse. The shoes really pulled the whole thing together.

CLARIFICATION: that is NOT me in the picture. Same costume from a catalog, but not yours truly. My version of Pierrot had a tear face painted on. Sad Pierrot.

Halloween-Themed Post #1

Only four more days to Halloween, and in the spirit of the season, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite Halloween stories. First, a tale of Halloween Political Correctness...

It's obviously the most fun when you get to be around kids at Halloween. I remember switching from being excited over going trick or treating myself to being excited over taking my little twin neighbors trick or treating. During college, I volunteered at a nearby cooperative preschool, and was looking forward to experiencing Halloween vicariously through the wee ones there. We painted pictures of pumpkins and ghosts, read spooky stories, and sang Halloween songs, including one I remember from my own childhood:

Five Little Pumpkins

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate
The first one said, "Oh, my it's getting late."
The second one said, "There are witches in the air".
The third one said, "But we don't care!"
The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run".
The fifth one said, "I'm ready for some fun!"
Wooooo, went the wind
And out went the light
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

Midway through the song I was stopped by the head teacher, who told me the second pumpkin actually said, "there's something in the air". I told her I could have sworn it was witches. "I know," she told me, "but some of our parents are practicing Wiccans, and we don't want to have any hurt feelings".