Thursday, October 31, 2013

Waiting for Superstorm Samhain

For the second year in a row, Tricks or Treats may be impeded by inclement weather.  See last year's post.  This year it may actually storm at the time of the festivities.  We're not the only ones feeling this.  An entire swath across the US will get hit.  So I don't just sing woe is me.  Nonetheless, it's disappointing to be sure.  We could trace the attempts at outdoor celebrations this last year by pinpointing sudden, and often singular, inclement weather conditions.

So we'll see.  There may be no grand posts as in years past.  The older boys haven't bothered with costumes.  Even if they don't go out, they've dressed up, but this year there may not be a reason.  Still we might alter our plans and come up with other goodies.  We've considered a night of spooky movies, perhaps a game (Mansions of Madness, based on Lovecraft, seems highly appropriate).  Our eight grader has his confirmation retreat tomorrow, so bedtime will be a little early. 

In the meantime, Mark Shea reminds me of why I used to love his blog, as he gives a fun little resource about the famous pagan origins of Halloween, even if he does so somewhat half-heartedly.  Truth be told, I don't worry about it.  Everyone knows it either is or isn't pagan in origins.  What you emphasize is likely based on what you believe in the first place.  An interesting read nonetheless.  Another good place is on Fish Eaters.  It's the main website I visited on our way into the Church.  It's traditionalist (ironic linking to that alongside Mark's site).  It definitely displays that disappointment with the post-Vatican II that does seem to define that view (or they wouldn't be traditionalist).  It has a lot of 'nuts and bolts' about Catholicism, its practices, its prayers, old customs and why Catholics cross themselves level materials.  I've always enjoyed its post on Halloween.  Any website that links to Poe, Riley and Longfellow on one page gets my thumbs up.

Bonus, it links to Washington Irving's classic The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  If you've not read it, do so.  You can in one sitting.  See if Disney or Burton was closer to the source material (as if you need to guess).

3 comments:

  1. If you're ever near Louisville, you'll have to make sure you come here on a weekend my group does board-gaming madness. (sats and suns)

    I liked mansions of madness though the second game I played literally took longer to set up since I walked into a room and triggered the "you lose" condition on turn 2 or 3.

    Have ya'll played Betrayal at Hill House? (part 1, part 2) That one looks like a lot of fun. Elder Sign looks like a fitting Halloween play though I don't have a copy because I'm not thrilled with how many pieces FantasyFlight games come with.

    Then there's all the zombie games...

    Hey... if I was to ever invent a board game, you think you and your boys (and lovely wife) could run some testing on it for me? (since it would be harder for me to get 4-6 players for testing)

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  2. Of course we could play test! Didn't know you were in Louisville, that was my old stomping grounds at Seminary. But yeah, we are game fans. We have about five shelves of board games, not including a shelf of Bookcase Games (the old Avalon Hill contributions).

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  3. /waves Hi david! Yeah I live/work downtown.

    We're still "making" the game at the moment so it'll probably be sometime next year before I have to call on you to test it.

    Ya'll have a fun holiday! Let us know who wins the games!

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