Friday Funnies

Today, October 31, marks the day that Halloween is being celebrated and many countries will observe some form of  this day. Countries in the Western world, such as the US, Canada, Ireland and the UK, have extensive celebrations and traditions which include costume parties, trick-or-treating, pranks and games.

It's also celebrated in downtown Nashua, NH, with lamp pole scarecrows along Main Street.

Other countries have traditions similar to Halloween that focus on remembering the dead, but with unique cultural spins, such as Mexico's Día de los Muertos. Most countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, do not celebrate Halloween because of religious or other reasons like Russia and Iran which have restricted/banned celebrations for cultural or religious reasons.

Many residents of Clocktower Place apartments, the mill building where we live also display Halloween decorations ranging from shelf size to larger-than-life size.

Some decorations include friendly-looking ghosts, akin to Casper the Friendly Ghost.

Other decorations have a more ominous theme, including a carnivorous pumpkin.

It's traditional to commemorate the dead on Halloween in some Christian traditions. During our recent Portugal trip, we saw early Halloween decos notably at a hotel.  On November 1, All Saints' Day, Portuguese children go door-to-door with carved pumpkin lanterns asking for a soulmass cake. This small round cake, which resembles a shortbread biscuit, has spices like allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon or ginger as well as raisins or currants. Before baking, it's topped with the mark of a cross. Unfortunately, we left too early to sample one.

This year, Clocktower Place featured a pumpkin decorating competition with some unique entries. Other residents will vote on the entries; the winning resident will receive a month of free garage.

There are 28 scarecrows placed along Main Street. While many are very original and creative, there are those that lack these features, which is why not all were shown in this post.

My particulate favorite for originality one is this one by the Nashua Transit System. It consists totally of transit system signage.

Full disclosure we do not decorate for Halloween, but only for Autumn with decorations recycled annually. These decorations will change only after Thanksgiving, a decorating tradition from our childhoods.

Your turn — Do you decorate for Halloween? 

Enjoy Your Weekend, Everyone

Hope that you all receive 🎃 treats, not tricks👻