The story of the Jack 'o' Lantern

I've had this article, from the West Michigan Food for Thought Magazine (October 2009), for a few days and I've been waiting for October to post it.

"By far the most identifiable Halloween icon is a face carved into a glowing orange pumpkin. Would that which we call a jack o' lantern glow so brightly in a vegetable? Once upon a time, the story goes, id. Lay it at the feet of an Irish cad of centuries ago. The legend of one Stingy Jack paints him an ornery cuss: a drunkard, and a trickster he was, a bargainer out for all he could get.
Such a trickster, indeed, that one fine day he tricked the Devil himself. With cunning Eden's serpent might have admired. Jack convinced the Devil to climb an apple tree. Quick as a wink, before the old tempter could climb down, Jack trapped him by placing crosses around the base of the tree. Pressing his advantage, Jack bargained: in return for a promise not to take his soul upon his death, he'd remove the crosses. The promise given, he let the Devil go.
Jack mended his ways not a bit, grew old and died. Stingy and conniving as ever, the old drunkard was turned away from Heaven's gate for his bad character. Taking himself to the Devil's door, Stingy Jack sought a home with the damned. Ah, but the Devil had not forgotten being tricked by a mortal: he refused Jack entry down below as well. In response to pleas of mercy, the Devil through Jack a small coal, a fragment of hellfire, for his troubles. A crafty one, Jack hollowed out a turnip to protect the burning ember that lights his way as he wanders still 'twixt Heaven and Hell.
The story goes that in recognition of the cautionary tale of Stingy Jack (who came to be know as Jack o' Lantern), the Irish carved fierce faces into turnips to scare away Jack or any ill intentioned spirit abroad during the old harvest festival on October 31. (Others in the British Isles used other vegetables: the British used beets; the Scottish, used potatoes as well as turnips.)
And so might the practice have remained had not the Great Potato Famine occurred. When many Irish emigrated to the United States in the mid-1800s to build new lives for themselves, the Halloween custom of Stingy Jack came along. Turnips seems in short supply, but pumpkins were a lovely substitute, big and orange and easy to carve. Jack's turnip lantern was left behind and the pumpkin version is with us to this day."

Hopefully you all enjoy the legend behind the Jack o' Lantern!

Mckenna Extravaganza

Cool Dude
This looks like a good place to hide
Mckenna loving her table and chairs from Grandma and Papa and handy work from Great Grandpa

Gus look who's in your crate

Great Idea

I am hanging out in the South Burlington Community Library while it is pouring buckets of rain. This is a pretty cool spot. The library is attached to the high school and the students and community share the space. There are many folks here my age and older and as the students come and go they stop and talk to folks and ask questions. After about an hour here it has been interesting to watch the interactions. I would guess since this appears to be a branch library it is also a great use of monetary resources with both the school district and the city contributing financially to the collection and wages of staff. It also appears to be a very busy and active place both with the students and "outsiders".

Ashleigh and I will be going out for dinner and then I leave bright and early in the morning. The plan is to drive all the way Wednesday and then rest up and catch up on Thursday. We shall see.....

Cold Weekend Camping

All bundled up and not moving a muscle. Once Mckenna figured out not having the blanket over her = freezing she didn't budge. It was predicted to get into the mid 30's but I don't think it was quite that cold. But it did feel verry chilly.

This is what cold mommy and baby look like first thing in the morning after not a whole lot of sleep.

You know it is serious when the directions come out of the box!

Saturday night was very pleasant. Tony and Terra had a beautiful night for their hoedown reception. The roast pork was amazing and Tony's uncle's band was GREAT. Mckenna was very intriqued by all the instruments and won over the chef's heart when she could not get enough of the pork. He said usually the kids all eat hotdogs.

The campground was mostly empty and we had the upper section all to ourselves. Tony's new father-in-law owns the campground and closed it for the weekend. It is a very popular campground with canoeists on the Pere Marquette and we were told there are usually about 300 canoeists there every weekend throughout the summer. The livery comes out to the campground and transports folks and the campground will provide a boxed lunch for a small extra fee. We don't get over to the western side of the state very often so it was fun.

Today I work all day and then in the morning I will be leaving for Vermont returning in October in time for the MSU vs UM game on the 3rd. While in Vermont I will be staying in a little cabin I rented in Sheborne which is only 8 miles from Ashleigh and less than that from the Ben & Jerry's factory. The color should be about a week away from peak from what I am told so it should be a lovely drive. Now if only this rain will not follow me out there......

Labor Day Weekend

Herb providing the power for Mckenna's tractor. She loves to drive the tractor but her feet don't quite reach the pedals yet.

Gus and Mckenna play in Lake Huron. The whole weekend was perfect for swimming and the water was not all that cold once you got used to it. I know we have endured MUCH colder.

Mckenna and Gus are best buddies now! She loved playing in his crate and really wanted to take him for walk but she is not strong enough to hold the leash. Luckily carrying it around was good enough.

Here is the whole gang. I think Grandma even made peace with Gus even though he did give her a fright a couple of times.

Dad and Jim did some work on Jerry's blind, we played a few card games, and enjoyed being together. We missed Don and his family and if the mosquitoes had not been so bad the weekend would have been perfect. Well, I guess perfect is a long shot - the generator died, someone snored terribly and kept us awake half the night, and we only had s'mores one night however the weather could not have been better. No one saw any signs of deer and other than a few turkey feathers I didn't see any live birds. We all had a great time and hope the weather is just as nice, maybe a bit cooler and minus the mosquitoes, for hunting reconnaissance in October.

Rocking chair and 2 random

Here is Mckenna cracking up
CHEERS DADDY!!!
In the chair
Rock Rock Rock and out of the chair

Old and new collide

Yesterday Caitlin and Mckenna came to use the FAX. I brought the antique child's rocker down from upstairs and she enjoyed rocking and getting in and out of the chair by herself, smiles all the time. The rocking chair was given to Don on his first birthday by Otis Jessup, his great grandfather. That would be Mckenna's great-great-great-grandfather! Otis received it for his first birthday! I realized it was a valuable antique when I saw one just like it at Henry Ford Museum. The original seat and back was carpet from new carpet laid in Otis' parents' home. When that became worn I replaced it with fabric from recovering our sofa. Then I researched carpet patterns at the library and found a design similar to what I remembered was the original. Sharon did the beautiful needlepoint on it today. I think all our grandchildren, even the Grants, sat in that antique rocking chair before they were too big. Now a great-granddaughter will enjoy it.

This morning the sleeve of Dad/Grandpa's pajamas caught the handle of the mustache cup where he keeps toothbrushes, a straight razor, tweezers etc. and the cup hit the counter and broke into many pieces! I knew we had received it from his Mother but learned it belonged to her father, David Drushal. Dad/Grandpa remembered his Mother had several mustache cups and wondered what happened to the others. A tiny bit of history gone. Now his things are in a Kemper Cabinets mug, from McDaniels Sales.

On Thursday afternoon Dad/Grandpa will be at Sparrow Hospital, a first class regional medical center, for arthoscopic surgery on his right shoulder. A light is inserted in one small hole and a knife inserted in a second hole and the Doctor expects to make his shoulder more comfortable by cutting and scraping. What a far cry from the medical care available when Otis Jessup received that rocker on his birthday in 1887!