I have a couple of items to share mid-week. The first is an addendum to last week’s post on the merits or not of Halloween. A non-blogging friend, who seems to read my ramblings on a regular basis, sent me an email describing her memories of Halloween Bonfire parties. I thought they were too good to keep to myself, so have reproduced her message here:
As children we celebrated Halloween with a big party for all the children in our road. My parents couldn’t afford fireworks therefore Halloween was a big bonfire with lots of games:
Courtesy Clipart
buns on the washing line, bobbing the apple, blindfolded tasting (disgusting!! especially tasting a spoonful of some hideous spice!!) and Dad always told us a gruesome story about Lord Nelson – we were blindfolded and I vaguely remember having to stick my finger in an eye socket (half an orange) and walking the plank (an old scaffold plank, child balanced on it, Dad made it rock a bit, child had to jump but actually you were only a couple of inches off the ground). All very terrifying and all brilliant fun. My Dad has always been really creative.
Always baked potatoes and sausages in rolls. So our Halloween didn’t go outside the garden, no ‘trick or treats’ and we had a sparkler to finish!
Very fond memories and one that I continued with my own children until very recently.
Now, doesn’t that sounds like a great family tradition in the making? My friend can have the last word on this one.
Secondly, I am sure many of you are aware that November is NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month – have a go at writing 50,000 words in thirty days and get a first draft of that ever elusive novel down in black and white. I know that two of our blogging chums have taken up this daunting challenge and I’d like to wish them both the very best of luck. Interestingly, they are both also long distance runners. Writing a novel is like running a marathon – it requires dedication, determination and perseverance, even when the going gets tough; which it undoubtedly will. Runners have to warm up, train regularly, whatever the weather. Sustained writing requires similar strengths: do it every day – not just when the creative urge strikes. To commit to writing what amounts to just under 1700 words a day is no mean feat, as the rest of us know all too well.
So, just as if they were running a marathon, I shall be standing on the sidelines, cheering them on, delighted when they cross the finishing line.
We played the Lord Nelson game too. A bare arm bent at the elbow felt like a stump. Be careful with the walking the plank. Thinking you are high off the ground and jumping a few inches can jar the spine. But it was a lot of fun.
I had never heard of the Lord Nelson game but I do remember a bit of apple bobbing once or twice. When Son was about four, he was mad on pirates and we had a themed pirate party in our garden where the small ones had to shimmy along a plank balanced on two large flowerpots. They had a whale of a time.
What a lovely way to spend Halloween growing up, thanks for sharing your friend’s memories Jenny! I’ve never heard of the Lord Nelson game.
Lovely of you to mention your blogging friends who are taking up the NaNoWriMo challenge, a huge commitment and your support will mean so much to them 🙂
Have you ever been tempted to do NaNoWriMo Sherri? I have, but it would be disastrous for me as I like to think for ages before I work out what is going on in my writing.
So when are we taking up the challenge, then, Sherri? – Next year, or, wait a minute, I’ve got a line in my head:
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…
What do you think – a good starting point?
What? Not original?
Dammit. Must try harder.
🙂
Just read this thread, sorry a bit late here! To answer you Denise, I thought about it and that is far as it has gone. What do you think Jenny? Next year? I would have to know that you are doing it too otherwise I know I won’t be able to stick to it. Got to have something to shoot for.
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow…well, that’s a start and more than I have right now… 😉 x
Denise, meant to say, you would have to do it too. How about it? If we start now with an outline or synopsis maybe we’ll be ready by next November… 😉 x
I guess we could egg each other on – but I’m going to need a lot of convincing 😉
Let’s all agree to do NaNo next year! 🙂
Another blogging friend has just brought this to my attention which might be of interest. Might be tempted to do a few of these….
http://nancystohlman.com/2013-flash-nano/
If we jump in next year, then I vote for Jill as our mentor!
I am not creative in this way, but really admire people who can create such an atmosphere of fun for kids with so little. Thanks for sharing your friend’s memories, Jenny.
As I said to Rod, above, we did our fair bit of themed partying when Son was small – we even had pin the parrot on the pirate, where I drew a life-size child dressed as a pirate, a detachable parrot and the blindfolded darlings had to blue-tack the thing as near to the shoulder as possible. It was a riot. Happy days!
What great memories your friend has, Jenny. I completely forgot about bobbing for apples as a kid at our neighborhood Halloween party. Thanks to you and your friend for bringing back some great memories. Good luck to all the Nanoers. I’m a huge fan. I’ve met the challenge in 2010 and 2012, but this year, I’m editing last year’s project.
Twice! Jill – my goodness, you are a NaNo veteran! Good on you for all that effort. How do you feel about editing? I used to hate tinkering with my ‘creation’ but now I’m completely the opposite – I almost enjoy the editing more than the writing these days.
Funny you mention that, Jenny. I’ve put off the editing because once upon a time, I hated it. Now, I’m loving it! Go figure! 🙂
When we did that “Lord Nelson” game, it was called “the witches chamber” or something like that…
And I too am a NaNoWriMo cheerleader. It’s a great idea and I’ve participated in the past; but it doesn’t work for me this year.
We’ll cheer together then Tracy. I will give the challenge some serious thought in the future, but it’s a bit like dieting – or giving up something for Lent – I’d have to hone my willpower and get into the right frame of mind (plus having enough time would be useful, too!). Once I’m in that zone I’m usually pretty much ok with it… but 50000 words? I’m not sure… 🙂
I doubt I’ll do it again. It was good for me to have done it once, got me in the habit of writing consistently every day, but I just don’t need, or want, that kind of challenge now.
Our childhood Hallowe`ens were all about games too. So much better than the trick or treat lark.
It seems it’s the games and the unsophisticatedness (is that a word – but you know what I mean) that we all remember 🙂
You took me straight back to when I was 7 or 8 years-old, a freezing night, my old primary school playground; bobbing for apples whilst fully aware that one of my friends might push my face a little further in the water than I wanted at any minute. Thank you.
You’re welcome, Dylan. Do you remember having gloves on strings that you had to thread through the sleeves on your coat? I don’t know why I just thought of those, but I would have been wearing a pair on my school playground aged seven or eight!
Yes. They could be deadly if you put your coat on back-to-front!
🙂 🙂
I feel a little deprived 🙂 All I recall from my childhood were droves of trick or treaters roaming from door to door. I never was much on doing it but loved to be the one answering the door and giving out the treats. I got to see the costumes. Back then, in NL, we called them mummers up until around maybe 25 years ago. Mummering is a tradition that has always been around my part of the world. It mostly happened/happens at Christmas but, with Confederation (we became part of Canada in 1949) we began to adopt some of Canada’s customs in lieu of our own, we shifted the kids mummering to Haloween. Back then all the mummers carried sticks 🙂 My dad hated it when some of the older ones pounded on the door with them, LOL.
Mummering still continues to thrive but mainly in the rural parts of NL. See…
The chap in the sweater around 1:20 is my friend Bud Davidge, another retired educator and the author/performer of the song.
Good grief Maurice, how can you consider yourself deprived when you have this tradition that Newfoundland had been keeping to itself all these years? I just checked out more info on Wiki (so not sure of its provenance) and it sounds a bit like first footing in Scotland, which they practise on New Year’s Eve, visiting homes of their neighbours with a piece of coal and a wee dram of whisky. They open all (or at least some) of their windows, whatever the weather, to let the old year out and the new one in.
Aren’t traditions great. Do you know about our Morris Dancers? 🙂
LOL–can’t see the forest for the trees 🙂
Speaking of tradition, it’s something of a shame to see so much of my culture being replaced with the mass marketed stuff. For example, my heritage really did not include:
– the version of Santa Claus that’s so popular today.
– Real pumpkins(we drew them!) and over-done Trick or Treat
– Turkey on Thanksgiving (we had other things)
– Turkey in General– it followed the U S Service when it set up based in Newfoundland and Labrador in the 1930s
– overdone Mothers’ day/Fathers’ Day/Valentines (except for just exchanging cut-out cards with classmates & tried to be a bit good on Mothers’/Fathers’ day.
BUT–I grew up with other traditions, many of which are no longer practiced. Too bad.
As for the Morris Dancers, today is my introduction but I’ve now had some time with Wikipedia and YouTube. It is somewhat in the same vein as our mummering when I think about it. Thanks for that!
What an interesting post and the commentary, too. 🙂 I agree with Maurice about the mass-marketed stuff. It’s so bland and featureless.
This has certainly got a lot of people talking! But I don’t think we can do much better than your Happy Thankshallowmas from last week 🙂
I am coming in late. Had to have college interview with our daughter. But….,.. We here in America also bobbed for apples. When I was eight my mother sent out invitations to my friends. Burning the paper all around the edges to look spooky. We had the party in the garage. But the Lord Nelson thing is yours!!!! Sinaed O’Conner sang a song abt him. Love your Morris Dancing video. Why not enter the contest ? It would be good practice.
Hi Jenny, you are right about writing a novel is a marathon, a bit of a coincidence that the marathon runners are doing to NaNo!
I’m not sure if it is a coincidence, Kay – I think it is because they have that kind of long term goal when they are running, they can apply the same discipline to writing every day – like training runs, I suppose.
Somehow I have lost you, Jenny. I no longer have you on my reader. An icon on my phone, but things are screwy. One of the comments you made on my pansies collage I tried to reply to and it showed your comment in spam and I could not reply? Any ideas? Maybe it’s my bumbling fingers on that phone……..
I just replied to another comment on the pansies thread – did you get that one, I wonder?