Halloween

[Andy]

There was a great story in last night?s newspaper. It seems that in Oct. of 1674 a woman named Mary Parsons who lived in Northampton MA was put on trial for being a witch. At the time the court house (church) was located exactly 6 miles from our front door. Sort of a neat piece of history that I was unaware of. Here?s a little taste of the article:

?There was, the neighbors believed, something strange about Mary Parsons. Why was it, they wondered, that a cow would take sick right after its owner had exchanged harsh words with her? What about the story that a child whose mother didn?t get along with Parsons had been hurt (broken leg)? How else to explain the rumor that Mary Parsons could wade in the water without getting wet? That she was known to wander about outdoors after dark? That she could always find something like a lost key, when no one else could? There was a reason these things happened according to some of the people who lived in Northampton in the mid 17th century. Mary Parsons was a witch.?

In 1650 another woman also named Mary Parsons was put on trial for witchcraft and murder. She was found guilty and executed. When our Mary Parsons moved from Springfield to Northampton some assumed she was the same person - a witch who had come back to life. Although nearly half the population felt she was guilty, the Northampton Mary was found to be nocent ie. Not Guilty. Many still felt she was a witch, thus a couple of years after the trial Mary and her husband Joseph moved back to Springfield with all nine of their kids.

Mary?s main accuser was Sarah Bridgman. It?s odd that in 1711 Mary?s granddaughter married Sarah?s grandson thus ending the feud.
NOTE to non-New Englanders: Until 1972 it was against the law to be ?abroad in the night time?. That meant that if you could not give a good reason for being out and you couldn?t or didn?t give your destination, you were subject to arrest. Thus, wandering about after dark was a violation. Also, around the same time Easthampton was massacred by Indians, so it was a bad time to be out alone.

Stay healthy,
Andy

[SweetSue]

man was walking home alone one night when he heard a BUMP...BUMP...BUMP...
behind him. Walking faster, he looked back, making out an image of an
upright coffin banging its way down the middle of the street towards
him...BUMP...BUMP...BUMP...
The man began to run towards his home, and the coffin bounced quickly after
him, faster...faster...BUMP ...BUMP ...BUMP. He ran up to his door, fumbled
with his keys, opened the door, rushed in, and locked the door behind him.
However, the coffin crashed through his door, with the lid of the coffin
flapping...BUMP...BUMP...BUMP... on the heels of the terrified man.
Rushing upstairs to the bathroom, the man locked himself inside. His heart
was pounding. With a CRASH, the coffin broke down the door and came slowly
towards him. The man screamed and reached for something, anything...All he
could find was a box of cough drops!
Desperate, he threw the cough drops at the coffin






......and...of...course,...the coffin stopped!


Susan

[janecallanan]

Howl-oween, hound-oween?

[SEATJERKER]

...trick-or treater last night...

...reasons behind it must be the fact that our house was abandoned for almost two years before we bought it, and it, with all the trees around it resembled something like the "Adams family" to some, so after living here for 4+ years now, we've made strides on the inside, but the out side at night is a little spookey to the little ones...

...so 6:30 last night as we're eatinf chow, my dog goes ballistic as usual when he hears a gnat fart, and this faint knock at the front door causes me to rise, and check...

...here stands this little kid decked out in a firemen's garb, and being that he's the only one there(as far as kids), mom standing off to the rear a bit, I say hold on, and go to grab the goods(candy), come back, and reopen the door(still restraining the dogwho wants to swallow him whole), and proceed to load him up with a couple of milky ways, and reesee's PB cups, (hey, any kid is glad to get anything more then one item other then a popcorn ball((used to like um)), and being that I fly three flags in front of my house on either side of the front doors ...

...The American flag is on the right, with a POW/MIA flag below it, and on the left is a DAV flag...

...He proceeded to thank me for the candy, and being that I was dressed in hunting pants, and a solid green wool shirt, he, inclosing said "Bye ARMY"... he musta figured I was in costume also...

...I didn't have the heart to tell him "Air Force" but just thought of now natural it came out from him was heartfelt......

[DMZ-LT]

Didn't even have one trick or treater ------- course I shut off all the lights and put a big sign by the front door that said " Don't even think about it , asshole "

[phuloi]

Could be that "Insured by Smith and Wesson" sticker on the door..