Trick or Treat

It’s one of a kid’s favorite parts of Halloween. There’s no feeling quite like waiting for a stranger to open his or her door so you can scream the words “trick or treat.” 

But why do we say it? What does it actually mean?

The practice of dressing in costume and asking for treats from your neighbors dates back to the Middle Ages. But back then it wasn’t a game. 

During the medieval practice of souling, poor people would make the rounds begging for food. In return, they offered prayers for the dead on All Souls Day. (What does the “een” in “Halloween” mean exactly? The answer lies here.)

Modern trick or treating is a custom borrowed from guising, which children still do in some parts of Scotland. Guising involves dressing in costume and singing a rhyme, doing a card trick, or telling a story in exchange for a sweet. The Scottish and Irish brought the custom to America in the 19^th century.

The earliest reference of the term “trick or treat” in print was in 1927, in Alberta, Canada. It appears as if the practice didn’t really take hold in the U.S. until the mid-1930s, where it was not always well received. The demanding of a treat angered or puzzled some adults. 

Supposedly, in a Halloween parade in 1948 in New York, the Madison Square Boys Club carried a banner sporting the message “American Boys Don’t Beg.” 

Trick or treating today is now practiced in northwestern and central Mexico. But instead of saying “trick or treat,” children ask, ¿me da mi calaverita?, which means “can you give me my little skull?”

Finally, who is the “Jack” in “Jack O’ Lantern?” Be warned; this tale might give you the chills.

This week thousands of Americans will scoop out the flesh of a gourd, crudely carve a haunting face into its rind, and stick a candle inside. Then the jack-o’-lanterns will proudly be displayed on porches and stoops. Who or what is this wacky tradition named after?

The British can claim ownership of the original use of the phrase “jack-o’-lantern.” In the 17^th century, it referred to a night watchman, a man who literally carried a lantern.

But it was also a nickname for strange, flickering lights seen at night over wetlands, or peat bogs, and mistaken to be fairies or ghosts. This natural phenomenon is also called ignis fatuus, which means “fool’s fire,” and will o’ the wisp.

Eventually what was called a “turnip lantern” became known as a jack-o’-lantern. Young boys used these hollowed-out and lit-up gourds to spook people.

Legend has it that this use of jack-o’-lantern was named after a fellow named Stingy Jack, who thought he had tricked the devil. But the devil had the last laugh, condemning Jack to an eternity of wandering the planet with only an ember of hellfire for light.

Irish immigrants brought the jack-o’-lantern custom to North America, which is where pumpkins were first used to make the Halloween decorations.

Impress fellow partiers this weekend with this fact: a jack-o’-lantern is also the name for an orange fungus. The mushroom Omphalotus olearius is found at the base of hardwood tree stumps. It is extremely poisonous.

(from dictionary.com)

Global Literacy Call to Action

What have you read - and who have you read to today??

Today we live in a world full of digital information. Yet reading has never been more important, for we know that for young people the ability to read is the door opener to the 21st century: to hold a job, to understand their world, and to know themselves. That is why we are asking you to join our Global Literacy Call to Action: We call this campaign: “Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life.” We are asking parents, teachers, school and business leaders, and the general public to support their children’s right to read for a better life in the digital world of the 21st century.

Here is what we believe about reading in the second decade of the 21st century.
We call this The Reading Bill of Rights:

WE BELIEVE that literacy – the ability to read, write and understand – is the birthright of every child in the world as well as the pathway to succeed in school and to realize a complete life. Young people need to read nonfiction for information to understand their world, and literature for imagination to understand themselves.

WE BELIEVE that the massive amounts of digital information and images now transmitted daily make it even more important for a young person to know how to analyze, interpret and understand information, to separate fact from opinion, and to have deep respect for logical thinking.

WE BELIEVE that literature and drama, whether on printed pages, screens, on stage or film, help young people experience the great stories of emotion and action, leading to a deeper understanding of what it means to be truly human. Without this literacy heritage, life lacks meaning, coherence and soul.

WE BELIEVE every child has a right to a “textual lineage” – a reading and writing autobiography which shows that who you are is in part developed through the stories and information you’ve experienced. This textual lineage will enable all young people to have a reading and writing identity which helps them understand who they are and how they can make their lives better. In short, “You Are What You Read.”

WE BELIEVE every child should have access to books, magazines, newspapers, computers, e-readers, and text on phones. Whatever way you read, you will need to figure out what the facts are or what the story tells you. No matter how and where you get access to ideas, you will need the skills of reading to understand yourself and your world.

WE BELIEVE that reading widely and reading fluently will give children the reading stamina to deal with more challenging texts they will meet in college, at work and in everyday life. And every child should be able to choose and own the books they want to read, for that choice builds literacy confidence – the ability to read, write and speak about what they know, what they feel, and who they are.

WE BELIEVE that every child has the right to a great teacher who will help them learn to read and love to read. Children need teachers who provide intentional, focused instruction to give young people the skills to read and interpret information or understand great stories they will encounter throughout life.

WE BELIEVE that in the 21st century, the ability to read is necessary not only to succeed but to survive—for the ability to understand information and the power of stories is the key to a life of purpose and meaning.

Diversity

Road Trip

Road trips are a part of American life. Everybody has their road trip story. It might come from a family vacation, the trip off to college, or just that summer you took off across the country with a friend. Eating in diners, sleeping in out-of-the-way places and discovering local treasures are all part of a road trip - as are car troubles and wrong turns.

In the film Due Date, Robert Downey Jr and Zach Galifianakis, as an expectant father and aspiring actor, race west from Atlanta across the south to LA. It’s a great route, and even better if you take it slow.  


Lonely Planet has some ideas to make your road trip special if you decide to follow their route, and some great pictures of the journey across the southwest.

Happy Halloween

Halloween, one of the world's oldest holidays, is still celebrated today in several countries around the globe. Read about Guy Fawkes Day, El Dia de los Muertos and other celebrations of Halloween around the World.
Celebrated each year on October 31, Halloween grew from a mix of ancient Celtic practices, Catholic  and Roman religious rituals and European folk traditions, blended together over time to create the holiday we know today. 

In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers, than about ghosts, pranks, and witchcraft.

At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties focused on games, foods of the season, and festive costumes. Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything "frightening" or "grotesque" out of Halloween celebrations. Because of their efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.

By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular, but community-centered holiday, with parades and town-wide parties as the featured entertainment. Despite the best efforts of many schools and communities, vandalism began to plague Halloween celebrations in many communities during this time. By the 1950s, town leaders had successfully limited vandalism and Halloween had evolved into a holiday directed mainly at the young. Due to the high numbers of young children during the fifties baby boom, parties moved from town civic centers into the classroom or home, where they could be more easily accommodated. Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was also revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats. A new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6.9 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country's second largest commercial holiday.

For much more information on Halloween, including videos, photos and interactives, go to the History Channel.

You can also try Wikipedia, Halloween.com, or kaboose.

And have a Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween Word Origins

Halloween can be traced back to Samhain, the ancient Celtic harvest festival honoring the Lord of the Dead. Observed on November 1 in the British Isles and parts of France, Samhain also marked the beginning of the Celtic New Year. Because it was a time of transition between the old and the new, the Celts believed that the souls of those who had died during the previous year gathered to travel together to the land of the dead and it was also a time when those who had died before that returned to visit their homes. November 1 was also considered the end of the summer period, the date on which the herds were returned from pasture and land tenures were renewed. People lit bonfires to scare away evil spirits and "sacrificed" fruits and vegetables, hoping to appease the spirits of the deceased. Sometimes people disguised themselves in masks and costumes so that the visiting spirits would not recognize them. Charms, spells, and predictions of the future were all part of the eve of Samhain. In the old Celtic calendar, that last evening of October was "old-year's night," the night of all the witches.

When Christianity burgeoned, starting in the fourth century, pagan festivals like Samhain were very much frowned upon. However, the Celts would not give up their ancient rituals and symbols — so the Christian church gave them new names and meanings. November 1 became All Saints' Day (All Hallows' Day in England), by proclamation of Pope Boniface IV in the 7th century, a celebration of all the Christian saints. The evening before All Saints' Day, October 31, became a holy, or hallowed, eve and thus All Hallows' Eve (later Hallow-e'en, Hallowe'en, Halloween). Despite the name change, this holiday's association with the supernatural persisted.

Halloween came to be accepted in America with the influx of Irish immigrants in the 1840s. Their folk customs and beliefs merged with existing agricultural traditions. The early American Halloween, therefore, was not only a time to foretell the future and dabble in the occult, but was connected with seasonal tasks of the fall harvest. Over the years, the holiday's agricultural and harvest significance faded and it became primarily a children's holiday — one where they dressed up as the spirits (ghosts and goblins) that their ancestors at one time feared.

Bonfire comes from the words bone and fire ("fire of bones") and originally indicated a large open-air fire on which bones were burnt, either as a ceremony (like a funeral) or for burning heretics or banned books. The Halloween bonfires were lit to scare away evil spirits. Nowadays, bonfires are also celebratory — after a day at the beach or for a homecoming football game.

The word costume came to English via French from Italian for "fashion" or "custom, habit," from Latin consuetudo/consuetudinem meaning "custom." Mask also made a trip through French (masque) from Italian maschera/mascara, perhaps from Latin masca, "evil spirit, witch."

Ghost comes from an Old English word gast/gost, "spirit, soul" and has related forms in other West Germanic languages. These related words appear to be connected with Sanskrit hea, "anger, fury." Goblin is from French and it may be related to the GermanKobold, a mythological spirit who haunted homes and lived underground in caves and mines. Etymologists believe it may be related to Greek kobalos and to Latin Gobelinus, mischievous spirits. The goblin carries the connotation of being grotesque and ugly, evil and malicious. The ghost is just downright scary, being the supposed soul of a dead person.

A jack-o'-lantern (also jack-a-lantern) is a hollowed-out pumpkin, originally a turnip, carved into a demonic face and lit with a candle inside. Light from a candle inserted inside can be seen flickering through the jack-o'-lantern's cutout eyes, nose, and usually grotesquely grinning mouth. The custom originated in the British Isles, with a large turnip or other vegetable rather than a pumpkin. The original meaning of the word jack-o'-lantern was "night watchman" or "man with a lantern," but it took on the Halloween sense by 1837, first in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales.

Pumpkin — the large fruit of the plant Cucurbita Pepo — is a word evolved from the original English spelling of pompeon or pumpion or pompion to pumkin and finally topumpkin. The word pompion came from Latin pepo/peponem from Greek pepon, "large melon, edible gourd," from another word pepon, "cooked by the sun; ripe." Another spelling variant is punkin.

In Old English, witch was actually wicca and originally (c 890) was a man who practiced magic or sorcery, which we now call wizard. By the year 1000, witch came to be defined as "a female magician or sorceress."

The colors associated with Halloween are black and orange. Orange, the color of the jack-o'-lantern, is a symbol of strength and endurance as well as of autumn and the harvest. Black is primarily a symbol of death and darkness. The black of a witch's cloak and the black cat are reminders that Halloween was once a festival of the dead.

Columbus Day Word Origins

On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on San Salvador in the Bahamas, sure that he had reached the East Indies. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain sponsored his trip west to search for a faster trade route to the Orient. Up until the end of his life (1506), Columbus believed that he had found that route. The anniversary of his landing was formally celebrated for the first time by the Society of St. Tammany, also known as the Columbian Order, in New York City on October 12, 1792. Columbus Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October (since 1971) and it is a tribute to the revelation of a New World. Columbus himself, a native of Genoa, Italy, is a hero of Italian-Americans. On the 400^th anniversary of his landing, a presidential proclamation made it a national holiday. The landing of Columbus also came to be commemorated as a holiday in Italy, and in most of the Spanish-speaking countries of the Americas it is celebrated with fiestas as Día de la Raza (Day of the Race) — because many of the Spanish settlers who followed Columbus married native peoples and created a new "race."

America is named for navigator Amerigo Vespucci who followed after Columbus and extended his discoveries. Vespucci (1451-1512) was Italian explorer who navigated the coast of South America in 1501.

The word discover goes back to Latin dis- and cooperire, meaning "to remove the covering; completely uncover." By 1553, it was used to mean "seeing or gaining knowledge of something previously unknown" and "finding out; bringing to light."

Navigation first described the action of traveling on water and is traceable to Latinnavigare, "to sail." Navigate originally meant "to go from one place to another in a ship" from navis, "ship" and igare/agere, "drive, lead."

Voyage first described a "journey by sea or land," from Latin viaticum, "provisions for a journey." The phrase boon voyage ("prosperous journey") was altered to bon voyage late in the 17^th century.

There has been much debate about both the accomplishments and the destruction caused by Columbus's voyages. The view of Columbus as a hero has been countered by the study of the impact of the slave trade and the ravages of disease brought by the visitors upon the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean region and the Americas. Columbus himself was not greatly revered by his companions or the natives he encountered. Still, Columbus is regarded as a hero for accomplishing the four voyages, for bringing great material profit to Spain and other European countries, and for opening up the Americas to European settlement.

from dictionary.reference.com

Monopoly

Monopoly was first introduced by Parker Brothers 75 years ago, but many people today don’t realize that the colorful properties ringing the board are real places that can be visited, even when they’re strolling along Atlantic City’s famous Boardwalk. 
Since the game was created, more than one billion people have played it, making it "the most played (commercial) board game in the world."  The mascot for the game, known as Mr. Monopoly or Rich Uncle Pennybags, is an elderly mustached man in morning dress with a walking cane and top hat.

Autumn Word Origins

Autumn or Fall is regarded as the third season of the year, from the descending or autumnal equinox to the winter solstice, approximately September 21 to December 21. Chaucer first used the word autumn c 1374, which is derived from Latinautumnus/auctumnus. The use of fall to mean autumn in North American English comes from the phrase fall of the leaf and it came into use by 1545 for this time of year when the leaves fall from the trees. The term autumn is still preferred in British English.

An equinox, literally 'equal night' from Latin aequinoctium, occurs twice a year when the Sun crosses the equator and day and night are equal in length. The autumnal equinox is actually the moment at which the Sun crosses the equator, usually on September 22 or 23.

The word foliage first appeared in late Middle English, was spelled foilage, and meant 'a design resembling leaves' though quite quickly it took on the collective meaning of 'leaves of a plant or tree.' The word traces back through French to Latin folium, 'leaf,' which influenced the later spelling change. In the fall, there are many foliage tours and leaf-peeper trips to see the spectacular changes in leaf colors.

Leaves are green because of pigments called chlorophylls. When chlorophylls are abundant in the leaves' cells during the growing season, the chlorophylls' green color dominates and masks the colors of any other pigments in the leaves. Thus, the leaves of summer are characteristically green. But as autumn approaches, certain influences both inside and outside the plant cause the chlorophylls to be replaced at a slower rate than they are being used. The "masking" effect slowly fades and the other pigments that have been present begin to show. These are called carotenoids and they give the leaves colors of yellow, brown, and orange. The reds, the purples, and their blended combinations come from another group of pigments in the cells called anthocyanins. These pigments are not present in the leaves throughout the growing season but develop in late summer in the sap of the leaf cells due to complex interactions both inside and outside the plant. The formation of anthocyanins depends on the breakdown of sugars in the presence of bright light as the level of phosphate in the leaves is reduced.

Harvest is from an Old English word haerfest which meant 'autumn' which had Germanic origins and shared an Indo-European root with related forms like Latin carpere and Greekkarpos. Harvest's original meaning in English was 'autumn' and then came to refer to the season for reaping and gathering grain and other grown products. The full moon nearest the autumnal equinox is called the Harvest Moon. Near the time of the autumnal equinox, the angle of the moon's orbit relative to the Earth's horizon is at its minimum, causing the full moon to rise above the horizon much faster than usual. Because the harvest moon, like any full moon, must rise near the hour of sunset, harvest workers in the Northern Hemisphere may be aided by bright moonlight after sunset.

A common autumn phenomenon in the central, eastern, and northern United States and in Europe is Indian summer, a period of unseasonably warm and dry weather that sometimes occurs in late October or November. The name may come from this phenomenon having first been noticed in the region occupied by the Native Americans (Indians) in North America.

The names of the months September, October, November are rooted in Latin.September is from septem 'seventh month' of the early Roman calendar - though it is now the ninth month in the Gregorian calendar. October (octo) is Latin for 'eighth month' (now tenth) and November (novem) is Latin for 'ninth month' (now eleventh in the Gregorian calendar). In Old English, September was called 'harvest month.'

from dictionary.reference.com