Slow Start

Today is that dreadful holiday, Halloween. It is not cute anymore. To celebrate death, blood, and violence even in a 'playful' manner seems somehow so wrong. And who comes to your door for treats? ...'Kids' who are 180 lbs and 5' 10" tall sporting deep voices and full beards! In Utah, they celebrate Halloween with more enthusiasm and demonstration than any other holiday put together. Our whole block is lit up like an orange Christmas display! The trees and shrubs bend beneath the weight of lights, hanging ghosts, witches, and bats. It is disturbing to see so much effort and money go into such a morbid day. Here, Halloween is a family venture and everyone goes out for fun and candy through the neighborhoods.

It is a strange place, Utah. The Church rules with an iron fist. One year the holiday landed on a Sunday. So, it was announced in the daily news, through the Mormon ward houses (churches), and on TV that Halloween festivities would not take place on a Sunday but, rather on the preceding Saturday. If you were not a participant in "the Church", you were left in a quandry. Do you send your kids out trick-or-treating on Saturday OR on the actual Halloween date? The answer to that was, we had two consecutive nights of trick-or-treaters at our door. Go figure! At least we had an opportunity to know who, in our neighborhood, were part of the local religious culture and who were not.

And is it not a strange twist of social regard when you take into consideration the way some organizations use Halloween to raise funds for charitable programs? Again I can only speak of where we live and that is in the Salt Lake area of Utah. The Children's Primary Hospital sponsors a fund raising event each season of Halloween. They create and open up a haunted house complete with a chamber of death that includes a chainsaw murder (in action, I must add) and various other scenes of gory torture and death. The house is in no way 'cutsie' but is realistic, dark, and evil looking. They have a warning at the door that it may not be appropriate for the young. This haunted house is open a few weeks before Halloween for the community to enjoy. The proceeds collected for this venture supports some of the charitable programs at the hospital.

I have a hard time with this. How can an organization and a community be so adamant in their stance against violence, child abuse, spousal abuse, and all the other cruel and torturous physical actions taken against people and then turn around and earn money from promoting that vary thing for entertainment purposes? To me, it seems like one hand works against the other, here. How a hospital, that is seen for its compassion and care, can also support and promote violence is beyond my comprehension. I guess I just don't 'get it'.

And what is this need for adults to start dressing up in costumes for the full week before Halloween all about? I am so tired of walking into our local establishments of business and finding a store full of characters from any movie, nightmare, and story book, you can imagine, walking around and wanting to help me! One day is enough to put up with but, now a full week early?

I suspect that most of you have not had to be in the hospital on Halloween. That is also an experience that I will not soon forget! One of my many surgeries was scheduled for the 30th of October. Being focused on my medical need, I never took it into consideration that I was being admitted to the hospital on Halloween. That soon changed when I went through the door to sit at the desk of the admissions lady. She was not there but a large Raggedy Ann doll was sitting in her place. And wonders of all wonders, that doll talked! On this day, I was registered by a toy, escorted to my hospital room by a witch (now if she was a real one or not, I could not determine, but she did, indeed, dress like one), and my nurse on the ward was dressed as a clown. It was surreal! Eventually, I was taken into the surgical suite where all looked as normal as expected and I felt rescued from the 'other world' from which I had just left. This relief was short-lived. When my eyes began to flutter open, while lying in the recovery room on those lovely rolling beds, I began to have visions of a witch hovering over me. As I became really aware of my surroundings, I realized that there was a witch in the room dispensing care! It was the recovery room nurse dressed in her Halloween outfit, celebrating the holiday, even if she could not actually do it in a 'normal social setting'! In my altered state of mind, this disturbed me deeply. I did not appreciate being startled by this seemingly act of innocent fun. It was not fun for me, to be sure. Needless to say, I spent the rest of the 30th trapped in a world of Halloween celebration that constantly came to me, handing me pills, giving me shots, and taking my vital signs until the November 1st shift change.

Tonight is THAT time again. What to say? "Happy Halloween"? Can someone explain to me what makes Halloween happy? I guess I just don't get it....oh well, this is not the first thing in life I just don't 'get'. And tomorrow ushers in a new focus, Thanksgiving... So, the Halloween decorations come down and the turkeys and pilgrims go up. Is anyone getting hungry?

If you have checked in here for a second time, today, you will notice that I have added some more photos. I thought it would be nice to include a set of photos of our favorite place to fish. It is at the top of the Uinta Mountain range. The little lake is directly off the road and has easy access. The water is wonderfully clear and is only about 15 feet deep. The lake is full of mountain rainbow trout and golden trout (or albino trout). It is so high up in altitude that sometimes we feel like we can touch the clouds. In the afternoon, thunderstorms roll through and we have to run for cover because they are often deadly, hitting people with lightning. Regardless, it is a beautiful and peaceful lake to fish in. We most often go home limited out.

When Sean is with us in the summer, we try to bring he and Caleb up for a day of fishing. This year we were able to bring the boys up for a camping trip. They had fun playing in the lake water and later, at the campsite, they played in the Provo River for hours in the day. It was a great experience for them and we look forward to taking them back this coming year for another get-away.

I hope you enjoy seeing the photos. If you ever come our way and want, we would love to take you fishing at this lake. It is truly a pleasant experience to have.

Judy