Well it is almost here, Halloween. I just recently read that
lawmakers, who seem to have way too much time on their hands, are deciding whether to have this ghoulish holiday land on Saturday each and every year.  Indeed, it takes a room full of lawmakers to
make that very difficult life threatening decision. What about these evangelical Christians demanding we should hand out the Bible as the treat? Wow how many Bibles can a child bring home? It was be a Bag-O-Bible fest, and that sure would take the fun away. Hey, all sarcasm aside, Halloween has survived many odds despite what day of the week it falls on and it got me thinking…

In my day, Halloween was a safe form of entertainment no matter what day it landed on and it was fun despite the fact we got candy instead of Bibles. In fact so safe was this sweet holiday that many of us kids would spend weeks and weeks getting ready for it.  Sometimes we planned extravagant routes simply because we could.  We trusted people, we
trusted that the candy wasn’t tainted and that people were watching out for one another. That as we all know is a thing of the past.

What I loved about Halloween back then was the people enjoyed it. If adults could not dress up and go out, they loved giving the candy out. They would open their door, look at you, and try to guess who you were. You would stand there with your bag held out and your arms getting tired
as they kept guessing, even though they knew who you were. However, you would wait so you could get that candy.

Speaking of candy, that is one thing that really has changed. When I was a kid, we would get full sized candy bars, not little bitty bars that can fit on a teaspoon. I am talking regular sized Hershey bars, Snickers, Milky Way bars, large rolls of Lifesavers, Baby Ruth bars, large suckers, candy
cigarettes and wax lips. Occasionally you would get loose candy like M&M’s or candy corn; those were the things that we would just dump out. They tasted weird because it would taste like some of the copper pennies that you got. See back then, five pennies could get you a piece of candy of your choice, and some people even handed out dimes. SCORE!

As we got older and planned our routs out for different neighborhoods,
we sometimes would change our outfits as well. That way it was like going
twice. Oh yes the Halloween outfits. I think the first Halloween I remember was I went as Casper the Friendly Ghost. I am not sure, but I am pretty sure and what I recall is not the stiff smelly plastic mask, but the nasty suit I had to put on. It itches, even though I wore my PJ’s under it. I actually went in PJ’s once and had a blast. If I could I would live in my PJ’s so for me that was always fun.

As I got older I seemed to have more fun making my own costumes up rather than going to the Woolworths or Thrifty’s costume rack. It was creative and allowed you room to think and really go all out.

I live out on a ranch now, we don’t get anyone that does trick or treat out here unless one of the chickens or goats want to come knocking at the door, and of course if that happened, I would be scared out of my wits! I
recall two years ago when I lived in a neighborhood, I think we counted under a dozen trick or treaters and we lived in a family neighborhood. It is somewhat sad really. I am grateful I lived in a time where Halloween really was about trick or treat. It was a fun time where kids were safe and the streets were swarming with little goblins, yummy treats and fun outfits.

Well Happy Halloween to you all, would love to know what you
recall about Halloween when Halloween was Halloween.

I was watching the news today and Occupy Tucson sure has my attention. In fact, I must say the entire Occupy Wall Street has my attention. I awoke this morning and saw that people spent the night at the park, holding their banners and using their personal freedom of speech this country gave them. Of course, in Tucson, freedom of speech can cost you up to 1,000 dollars, but most people do not mind, because that is what they are protesting. I realized protesting sure has changed and it got me thinking…

I was a young child. I was unsure what I wanted to be. I had a guitar in my hand by the age of five, and the willingness to rebel against anything I could by the age of 7. I was perfect to be living in the 60s. Perhaps a little young, but I was a want-to- be hippy child being raised in an evangelical religious home so what else could I do but rebel? The 60s and early 70s provided that for me.

Early in the mornings, I would eat my cereal and then rush to the TV to watch the protesters. My mother would worry what was wrong with me. I am sure her church told her I was some heathen, and I would need to can fruit, get married by the time I was 14, or have to pay some price in one of their heavens. It did not bother me because what I saw on TV were young people speaking their truths and taking to the streets. To me, I was a young child when I learned what speaking your truth really meant.

I began to listen to protest songs of the 60s, songs such as A Change Is Gonna Come, Give Peace a Chance, For What It’s Worth, Signs, Sly Pilot, The Unknown Soldier, Eve of Destruction, Where Have All The Flowers Gone, Ohio, One Tin Soldier and Imagine would play on the radio as well as my turntable. My fingers would bleed as I tried to learn to play each song.

I was too young to understand why we were protesting. Mainly the War and I used to write “make love not war” on my Tee-shirts, which sent my mother running to her Bishop wondering where she went wrong. Truth is, my parents did nothing wrong. They were part of what the hippies were protesting. They were the establishment. My father was active in the National Guard and he would bring me his old Army shirts, I would plaster them with peace symbols.

Things changed for me after the massacre at Kent State. That was the day when nervous National Guardsmen fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds into a crowd. They murdered four students and wounded nine others. That day stands as strong in my mind as it was the day I grew up a little and at the age of 12, I understood that in my country if you spoke your peace, men in uniform would kill you. I was too young to understand.

I took all the fathers old army clothing he gave me and handed them back to him. I remember going to Millers Surplus and buying a pair of green Army pants that fit me, and put graffiti on them with permanent magic markers, things like, make love not war, all we are saying is give peace a chance and all sorts of symbols.

Well let’s fast forward 40 years later, and here I am today watching the protesting. What I find rather funny is it isn’t about hippies, or a generation, it is people with Ph.D.’s, people with families, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, gays, straights, rich and poor, all taking to the streets or the parks saying, “something is not right and we need change.”

I am proud of those who are holding their signs. DONT SHOOT—-they are only trying to get a message across. No one has been listening for years, and suddenly, here they are, watching and listening.

Now here is how much protesting has changed. For all you Android owners, there is now an application for protesters that will contact your family, friends and lawyer in case you are arrested. Yes indeed times sure have changed.

Recently when I was watching parts of Dancing with the Stars I saw Chaz Bono dancing. You know truth is whether you are straight, gay, transgender, pink, purple, black, white, some people can dance, and like me, some people cannot dance. I was amazed to see Chaz getting the votes. This poor fellow can’t dance for the life of him. I realized this was not about talent but like many shows, it is about popularity, which is why I won’t be watching it anymore, but, he “danced” to a song recently that was his father’s song and it got me thinking…

Sonny and Cher were once a household name and hit it big in 1965 with I Got You Babe. They were a couple who were funny and cashed in on being a husband and wife team. They would make a point to criticize and cut each other down publically making audiences laugh. Sonny seemed to be the joker and Cher rarely laughed or at least held back the laughter.

Thank goodness the two were funny because much like Chaz Bono not being able to dance, Sonny could not sing, but it didn’t matter because the two of them together had them selling out concerts and rocking the charts. In fact, I was reading that this dynamic duo had five of their songs go top 20 on the US Billboard chart.

The beat went on in 1971 when The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour aired. The couple were funny, had great skits and lots of music, which sent variety shows to the top. By their third year of the show, the happy go lucky couple failed to get along and separated. In 1974, the comedy show ended and the beat for the two of them no longer went on.

I recall seeing them live in concert when I was a kid. I am sure it was right when they separated because I told my sister that I felt they got along pretty well considering they were getting divorced. They were funny and used their wit and charm with their audience and no one would know that this couple was no longer getting along and were just fulfilling their obligations with TV and live shows.

The great news is they both found fame in different ways. Cher became a top chart singer and actress and has won Grammy, Emmy and Oscar awards. Sonny as we know, died in a ski accident, but he became successful as a politician and was elected to Congress as a U.S. Representative from California.

If you grew up the 60s and 70s Sonny and Cher was a household name and you heard their music and watched their shows all the time. There are days that I realize how their presence is dearly missed and thank goodness for reruns, DVD’s and Youtube.