Notes From the Cape on Nine Eleven

(September 11, 2017)

Nights are getting cold in Barnstable County,

there's a shiver-wind moving on through.

But the 'Giving Tree' laughs in the face of autumn

and delivers four blossoms of a beautiful hue.

Sorely needed today they were a gift from Heaven,

to ease our sadness, for this morning is Nine Eleven. 

Hibiscus Tree on our deck in Barnstable County, Cape Cod Massachusetts

I needed a sign at dawn today, for 9-11 I will never forget.
Of the photos I took just this bright morn, here's the best yet!
Look closely at the crimson flower to see the reason why -
the inspiration of new life and renewal from this hopper guy.

Photos by Bill Russo on lower Cape Cod on the morning of 9-11.  

The 'Giving Tree', a Hibiscus, produces saucer sized blossoms all summer long, every single morning - but each one lasts only a day.  No matter how brilliant its color, every flower dies at sunset.

At next the dawning, it brings forth another crop of brilliant buds. Like human life itself, one bloom dies, yet another comes to take its place. 

One up, one down.

The rhythm of life.

Speaking Algebra!

Many, many years ago in school my teacher asked me to say something in Algebra.

"Pie are round," I offered.

"No, NO, NO!," she protested. Pie are square!"

I never believed her until I saw this picture.  The old girl was right. 

Pie are square!

First Sharks, now Killer Catfish on Cape Cod?

New! Free Read! 5000 Word Short Story  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/747189

This is not a Halloween story though you might find monsters in it, depending on what your definition of a monster is. Rather, it is the tale of two young men in search of an eerie pond they read about in a book - a strange lake said to be filled with man-eating catfish. Against the counsel of a wily old Cape Codder who claims there's no truth to the story, they venture into the wild, uninhabited area in hopes of collecting specimens to sell to a museum in Maine. You could go to that Museum (It really does exist) and see if there are any collections of Killer Catfish on display - or if you find it more convenient, you may read the story!

Here's the link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/747189
Bill Russo, Sepember, 2017

The Weird Story of the First JackO' Lantern

As I write this it's September and Halloween is still about two months away, but to many of us, anytime is a good time for a tale about one of our favorite holidays.  With that in mind here's a folk story about the 

Origin of “Jack O’Lanterns.”

As of September 8, 2017

The tradition of cutting faces into pumpkins originated in America, probably around Boston or New York.  Actually the first carving was in Ireland, but it was a large turnip, not a pumpkin that was hollowed out, had a face cut into it, and was supplied with a candle to give it a scary glow.

According to the legend a mean, disorderly fellow, named Jack who lived in a shack in Dublin, loved to play tricks on unsuspecting people.  His foul antics affected everyone from his own family to the town’s upper class.

He took great delight in tripping old ladies, suspending wires across pathways to injure human and horse alike, and tying a thread around a gold piece that he tossed on the ground and then snatching it away from a person who spotted it and went to pick it up. 

Though a rogue and a no-good, mean Jack was very skilled in the art of doing bad things and always managed to escape harm from his foul tricks, even when he pulled one on the Devil himself!

By means of his extraordinary cunning he managed to convince Satan to climb up a full grown apple tree.  When the Lord of Hell was halfway up, nimble Jack tacked crosses all around the trunk of the tree.

“I can’t get down,” moaned the Devil. “I’ll suffer eternally if I even so much as brush across one of those terrible crosses. Take them away Jack,” begged old Satan.

“I might remove those crosses for you if you are in a bargaining mood.”

“Name your price you scallywag.”  

Jack smiled and thrust out his chest, puffing himself up as big as he could get and told the Devil…..

“The price for me to do it is merely one soul – my own.  You must promise me that when I die you will not claim my soul.”

“Take away those dreaded crosses and it’s done.  I shall never lay claim your dark soul, no matter what.”

Keeping his end of the bargain, Jack removed the crosses and the Devil climbed down the apple tree and went to Hell, while Jack went to the pub to celebrate his big victory over the Lord of Darkness.

About 20 years later after a life of deceit and drunken debauchery Jack died and applied for a small apartment in Heaven.  At the Pearly Gates, St. Pete took one look at the old reprobate and said “Not a chance. No way! There’s no place for the likes of you in Heaven Jack.  Go to Hell!”

So Jack did.  He knocked on the door of the gates to the inferno and was met by Satan himself who demanded to know…

“What the Hell do you want Jack?”

“I’d like a little spot in Hell.  It doesn’t have to be very big.  Really, even a little closet will do.”

“We made a bargain Jack.  I promised that I would never claim your soul no matter what.  I’m keeping my end of the deal.  Get lost Jack!”

“Yes, it’s lost I’ll be,” said the miserable old sinner, "for now I’m stuck forever in the dark netherworld between Heaven and Hell and I can’t even see where I’m wandering.”

“I’ll do one thing for you Jack. Here….” said the Devil as he tossed him a flaming ember from the furnace of Hell. “That ember will glow forever and guide you on your endless walk between the gates of Heaven and Hell.”

Jack had a turnip with him, a plentiful and favored food in Ireland at the time.  It was a large turnip and Jack felt that it would make a good holder for his flaming ember which was too hot to hold in his hand.

Jack hollowed out the turnip and cut holes in the side.  When he placed the ember in it, the light shined through the holes and lit the way for him in his perpetual walk. 

From that day forward, the last thing new souls arriving at the Gates of Heaven and Hell see before being admitted to one place or the other is mean spirited Jack carrying his brightly lit “Jack O’Lantern”.

And so it was that during the first great waves of immigration, the Irish brought the tradition of turnip carving to America – though once they got here and discovered pumpkins, they stopped using turnips because pumpkins were bigger and easier to carve. 

Happy Halloween 

With 53 Days to Go, Here's some Trick or Treat News

As of September 7, 2017

In bygone days Halloween in the United States meant hayrides,  parties with games like bobbing for apples, walks at midnight through spooky graveyards, and playing slightly mean tricks on your neighbors - a practice which developed into Trick or Treat during the 1920s. 

By the time my generation came along in the 1940s after World War II much of the 'tricking' was gone from the holiday although quite a few times my group and I were guilty of knocking on doors and then running away. 

For Halloween in 2017, let's hope that 'tricks' are a thing of the past and it's all 'treats' this season.  

Here are a few vintage Halloween artworks from the very early days of "Trick or Treat".

Happy Halloween:

May your Tricks be very, very small 

& your Treats  be large enough for all!

Monster Seeks Parole

Mugshot of a Monster

This monster has been a model prisoner for 40 years after killing a man and his wife for "Monster in Chief Manson." So what have the people she killed been doing for the last forty years?  She should have joined them four decades ago at the end of a short rope after a speedy trial! Parole? She's reformed? That news must be a great comfort to the dozens of members of the families of her victims.

The Most Popular Costumes - with less than 2 months to Halloween

54 days and counting as of September 6, 2017

Halloween comes just once a year, but thankfully the Holiday Police didn't get it moved to Mondays.  It always falls on the 31st. of October.  This year it's a Tuesday.  

For many years the Princess Costume has been the top seller for young ladies, but 2017 belongs to Super Heroes.  It is expected that the best sellers will be Supergirl, Batman, and Superman!   These costumes are going to account for much of America's 3 billion dollar Halloween spending spree.

It's interesting to note that the popularity of Supergirl, Batman, and Superman simply reflects the nature of time - it is a pendulum. Back in the 1950s the most sought after costumes were pretty much the same as now!  Every post war kid wanted to be a superhero.

It seems as though only one popular costume from the 20th century failed to make it to the new millennium - the Cowboy Suit.

 In 1950 every buckaroo from Boston to Miami was sporting a pair of plastic six guns, a five or six gallon hat, and a tin badge.  As it says in the Bible, 'this too shall pass'.  It's very likely that in the near future Hollywood will launch a Western Movie that will spawn a whole new batch of rhinestone cowboys.