Whimsical Wednesday

A Special Day

Multiple-guess . . . What is significant about today, WED 10/31
A. Reformation Day
B. Halloween
C. 48th anniversary of my first date with the love of my life
D. All of the above

If you chose D, YOU ARE A WINNER!

It was on October 31 that Good Ol' Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany. Lutherans & other Protestants commonly observe this date as the beginning of the Reformation.

Tomorrow is All Saints Day, & today is "All Hallows Eve." Some years we've turned off all the upstairs lights & barricaded ourselves in the basement so we would be spared having to answer the door a gazillion times. We don't do that anymore, but--call me the Halloween Grinch--it's still a pain handing out candy every 17.5 seconds from 5:00-8:00.

And finally, my first date with Lois was Oct. 31, 1970. We attended St. Paul's College High in Concordia, MO. She was a junior. I was a senior. She asked me to be her escort for the high school homecoming court. I accepted. She was declared high school princess. Coincidence? Hmmmmm.

By the way, my sister Carolyn, who was a good friend of Lois', probably still takes credit for our 48 years of dating bliss, since she egged Lois on to ask me out.

Also, by the way, at break this morning at Orphan Grain Train we learned that parents at a public school--can't remember where--let the school administration know that their kids would not be dressing up, as permitted, for Halloween, since they weren't allowed to celebrate Christmas. Get it? It was OK for the school to celebrate a pagan holiday, but celebrate Christmas? Uh, no.

From Omaha World Herald (10/31):  "This year, Americans will drop about $9 billion in celebration of Halloween & its carnival of escapism, a chance to flaunt yourself or disappear into someone else. The holiday's craziness & camp are fun precisely because they are temporary--& so are the stores that sell it to us."  Lois has spent this week teaching her 1st graders to say, "Happy Reformation!"

Last but not least

Here are some intriguing taglines posted on today's Drudge Report. [I didn't bother reading the articles.]

• Pelosi:  After We Win, We'll Tone Down Rhetoric
• Saudi arrest 17 women for taking part in Halloween party
• Cemeteries of Future:  Graves Suspended in Air?
• Rotting fish, maggot cheese on menu at Disgusting Food Museum
• Editor quits food magazine after joking about killing vegans