Halloween is one of those holidays that has changed in my view over the years. Growing up, I always liked wearing costumes (sometimes even to school) and trick-or-treating. Between the houses on my street and the next block, I would get so much candy in my bag that it usually lasted past Thanksgiving. I knew it was not a religious holiday, but my family never felt like there was anything wrong with a little costuming and candy begging.
Then in my teen years, I had a kind of spiritual awakening. One of the results of this was a rejection of Halloween, because I felt there were too many associations with the occult and other activities I did not agree with. So for the rest of adolescence and most of my young adulthood, I chose not to recognize the occasion. No costume, no decorating, no turning on the porch light because there was no candy for trick-or-treaters.
My church and college did have a sort of "Harvest Carnival" with the opportunity to bob for apples, play street fair-type games, and take home candy, all in a safe, well-lit, non-threatening environment, with no scary costumes allowed. Even then, I was not entirely comfortable going, and some years I still skipped it on principle.
My views have since softened, and I take a more relaxed stance now. I still enjoy dressing up, but I usually keep the costume more fun and less scary. We do leave our light on, but we don't turn the front lawn into a graveyard or do any great decorating job. And we bought less candy this year because last time we had so many leftover sweets that they lasted until almost Christmas. Well, I suppose that part wasn't so bad after all.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Anniversary Thoughts
Our anniversary is October 19th. Hard to believe it's been 12 years. Halfway to the silver, and a quarter of the way to gold! But we'll settle for a bit of silk, nylon, or linen, since that's what the gifts are supposed to be for the twelfth year. Personally, I can skip anything nylon (not crazy about synthetics), but some nice silk bedsheets would be cool.
After living in San Diego, Miami, Los Angeles, Orange County (Fullerton), and now Bakersfield, we feel like we have never put our roots down. This is our fifth year living in one town, easily the longest in one area, yet we've moved from an apartment to a house, so it still seems like we're nomads.
We know a lot of couples go through this the first few years of marriage, but then once the kids come along, they decide to settle. I think what has helped for us is actually buying a house. Owning property has given us a much better sense of belonging than we imagined it would. No matter where we end up or how many houses we live in, we will always remember this as our first.
No one can say where we will be for our 50th anniversary, but it's nice to spend the 12th together in our own home. There are no travel plans this weekend, but the bug has bitten yet again. Who knows where we will go next?
After living in San Diego, Miami, Los Angeles, Orange County (Fullerton), and now Bakersfield, we feel like we have never put our roots down. This is our fifth year living in one town, easily the longest in one area, yet we've moved from an apartment to a house, so it still seems like we're nomads.
We know a lot of couples go through this the first few years of marriage, but then once the kids come along, they decide to settle. I think what has helped for us is actually buying a house. Owning property has given us a much better sense of belonging than we imagined it would. No matter where we end up or how many houses we live in, we will always remember this as our first.
No one can say where we will be for our 50th anniversary, but it's nice to spend the 12th together in our own home. There are no travel plans this weekend, but the bug has bitten yet again. Who knows where we will go next?
Getting Back To Basics
We have tried to go back to natural living, as much as we can in a modern society. We avoid food with artificial ingredients, try to wear natural fiber, and limit our use of disposable plastics. It's a system that is far from perfect, but we have to take small steps.
This way of thinking might have started around the time we got into re-enacting. When we were building our impression, we looked in antique stores and anywhere else for things we could use in camp. They had to be made out of wood, iron, ceramic, or something else that would have been available in the 1860s. Then we extended that search to include our decorating in the house, and it eventually led to cooking 'period-correct' food. So out went the margarine and in came the butter.
Things progressed to the point where we started reading books and online articles about natural and organic foods, and how many of the health problems Americans face that are caused by a diet high in calories and low in nutrition. Then we thought, "Maybe the hippies of the 60s and other counter-culture people were onto something." But rather than wear beads and sandals, we started our own little revolution at home.
It's not been easy to do. Throwing out any food in our pantry that had high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or hydrogenated oils meant that half our food stores went away like that. We had to replace them with more expensive foods that don't keep as long with no preservatives. We really started to feel for lower-income families that buy the cheap food because it's cheap, since that's what we had to do for years. Even after we settled more comfortably into the middle class, we still look for bargains, of course. Now, this is not a bad thing, unless you're trading your health to save a few dollars, because the negative effects of the poor-quality food are far more expensive down the road.
We know that not everybody is going to change with us. Either they can't, or they just don't want to. So we have backed off on our preaching to families, friends, and co-workers. If we can't change the whole world at once, we can start with us. Rather than try to convert everyone, we just want to inform people and let them make up their own minds. That's really how changes start, anyway.
This way of thinking might have started around the time we got into re-enacting. When we were building our impression, we looked in antique stores and anywhere else for things we could use in camp. They had to be made out of wood, iron, ceramic, or something else that would have been available in the 1860s. Then we extended that search to include our decorating in the house, and it eventually led to cooking 'period-correct' food. So out went the margarine and in came the butter.
Things progressed to the point where we started reading books and online articles about natural and organic foods, and how many of the health problems Americans face that are caused by a diet high in calories and low in nutrition. Then we thought, "Maybe the hippies of the 60s and other counter-culture people were onto something." But rather than wear beads and sandals, we started our own little revolution at home.
It's not been easy to do. Throwing out any food in our pantry that had high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or hydrogenated oils meant that half our food stores went away like that. We had to replace them with more expensive foods that don't keep as long with no preservatives. We really started to feel for lower-income families that buy the cheap food because it's cheap, since that's what we had to do for years. Even after we settled more comfortably into the middle class, we still look for bargains, of course. Now, this is not a bad thing, unless you're trading your health to save a few dollars, because the negative effects of the poor-quality food are far more expensive down the road.
We know that not everybody is going to change with us. Either they can't, or they just don't want to. So we have backed off on our preaching to families, friends, and co-workers. If we can't change the whole world at once, we can start with us. Rather than try to convert everyone, we just want to inform people and let them make up their own minds. That's really how changes start, anyway.
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