Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween bloggers! Yes it is officially the SPOOKIEST day of the year. And nature is cooking up some real spooks in its cauldron as we speak. Howling winds and rain will tap at our windows. It will truly set the scene as we celebrate on Halloween night.

Halloween is a fun holiday. Dating back years and years. I understand that to some people it has a bad reputation. I want to share a little Halloween history to help everyone better understand it's true meaning.

Halloween evolved from the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain. Over the centuries, Halloween transitioned from a pagan ritual to a day of parties, costumes, jack-o-lanterns and trick-or-treating for kids and adults. Like many other holidays, Halloween has evolved and changed throughout history. Over 2,000 years ago people called the Celts lived in what is now Ireland, the UK, and parts of Northern France. November 1st was their New Year's Day. They believed that the night before the New Year (October 31) was a time when the living and the dead came together.

More than a thousand years ago the Christian church named November 1st All Saints Day (also called All Hallows.) This was a special holy day to honor the saints and other people who died for their religion. The night before All Hallows was called Hallows Eve. Later the name was changed to Halloween. 

Like the Celts, the Europeans of that time also believed that the spirits of the dead would visit the earth on Halloween. They worried that evil spirits would cause problems or hurt them. So on that night people wore costumes that looked like ghosts or other evil creatures. They thought if they dressed like that, the spirits would think they were also dead and not harm them.

The tradition of Halloween was carried to America by the immigrating Europeans. Some of the traditions changed a little, though. For example, on Halloween in Europe some people would carry lanterns made from turnips. In America, pumpkins were more common. So people began putting candles inside them and using them as lanterns. That is why you see Jack 'o lanterns today.

Some of you may have already known this bit of history on Halloween. But if not, I hope I've helped you understand that even though Halloween has a lot to do with death and lost loved ones as well as the spirit world. It's not an evil day.

And speaking of Jack 'o lanterns. 

Here are a couple I carved for our celebration.

No stencils for these two pumpkins. I enjoy doing free hand carving. They came out pretty good I think. Scary faces to keep the scary's away.

Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

They're all set out on the porch ready for the Trick Or Treaters. Now the questions is, What kind of weather will the kiddo's have to venture out in to get all that candy?

Well, some good news is that the latest weather models are showing less rain than we were originally thinking a couple days ago, We were looking at a good 1" to 2 inches of rainfall. Now the latest data is pointing a amounts closer to .50" and 1".

Here's a better breakdown for the Rochester, Halloween forecast below.

Halloween (Thursday)

High 62       Low 40

Rain showers through out much of the day heading into Friday. Rainfall between a half inch and one inch possible.

Windy. Winds between 20 and 25 mph through out much of the day. Winds increasing as we head into later Thursday night and into Friday morning. Winds could gust between 40 and 50 mph with a gust to 60 mph not out of the question. Good news is the highest of the winds should hold off until after the trick or treaters are back home.

A High Wind Watch is still in effect.

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Even though the weather isn't ideal. I still think everyone will have a good time. I have work first, and then I'll come home and spend the day with my wife. Making Soul Cakes, Pop corn, a delicious dinner and watching some Halloween movies. Should be a fun night.

Have a wonderful Happy Halloween everyone.

Thanks for reading.