DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

         Halloween, as we know it has been a tradition in our country for many years, but have you ever wondered where it came from?  The Celts, or people from and around Ireland, the United Kingdom and Northern France around 2000 years ago had their new year as November the 1st.  So that meant  the end of the year for them, the time when the harvest was over and the start of the long cold winter was October 31st.  Due to the facts that many people died in the winter, and the living world and the dead opened up.  On this day the dead could invade the world of the living and priests would be able to predict the future and talk to the dead more easily.  They would dress up and at a large central bonfire, pay homage to their Celtic deities, sacrificing animals to the gods.  They would also try to tell each others fortunes while dressed up in costumes of animal skins and heads.       These festivals of sorts was known as Samhain (pronounced sow-in).    Later on after

         Superstitions abound around the Halloween holiday.  And why wouldn't they?  It's that time of the year again, where the dead rise and the spirits abound.  Or at least that's what alot of people believe.  Many people have very strong beliefs involving this holiday and the days around it.          Every one knows that black cats are supposed to be bad luck, especially if they cross your path.  Years ago it was thought that black cats are supposed to be bad luck, especially if they cross your path.  Years ago it was thought that black cats were actually the devil, or at least filled with evil spirits.    For unmarried girls, there were many ways to find out about your future husband.  On Halloween night, if you keep a rosemary herb and a silver sixpence under your pillow, supposedly you will dream about your future husband.  For a better glimpse of your future, a girl must carry a broken egg in a glass, take it to a spring of water, and mix so

  Now that you've chosen the perfect pumpkin, carved a flawless design into the pumpkin and made it into a Halloween jack-o-lantern, how do you keep the pumpkin fresh until Halloween?  You must keep your pumpkin hydrated, and there are several ways of doing that.  Here are some tips for keeping your jack-o-lantern just-carved fresh until Halloween.          After you have carved the jack-o-lantern design into your pumpkin, coat the cut edges and the inside of the pumpkin with petroleum jelly.  Good old Vaseline will help seal in the moisture of the pumpkin and extend the life of your jack-o-lantern.  Vegetable oil can be used instead of Vaseline, or spray the inside of the pumpkin with hair spray.  Either of the three will seal in moisture and keep your pumpkin fresh until Halloween.            If the cut edges of your jack-o-lantern have begun to curl, soak the pumpkin in a tub of water overnight to re-hydrate it.  After removing the pumpkin from

  There is no shortage of haunted houses in America, but perhaps America's most famous house, the one that resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the White House.  The White House was built near the end of the 18th Century, and today it's composed of 6 stories of 132 rooms and 412 doors.  With so many rooms, is it any wonder that some of them are haunted by past presidents and first ladies alike?  The more doors in a house, the more of a chance some of them might open and close on their own.  But who is haunting the executive mansion and playing havoc on our senses of reality?  Most obvious of all, past presidents and their wives are the most frequent haunters of the White House and for some of them their haunting are more memorable than their tenures in office.   William Henry Harrison       William Henry Harrison's presidency lasted less than 32 days back in 1841, yet his ghost can still be heard, rummaging through the White House attic, 168 years later.  H