Here comes Santa Claus , here comes…

Posted on October 28, 2013October 28, 2013 by Dusty Roads

It isn’t even Halloween! We still have to get through Thanksgiving! But Taunton, the Christmas City, is already beginning to prepare for the big display on the Taunton Green.

In a way I can forgive them. They do go all out when they decorate and often they have to build some of the displays to avoid repeating too many from the past. They try to make it new and different each year.

I think Taunton usually has a “lighting Ceremony” the first week in December but more and more surrounding communities are lighting up in mid- November, even before Thanksgiving!

Last year was the first time I noticed the way the display seemed to grow. Before I never paid any attention. I’d just be driving home one night and there it was, all lit up… Just like magic !

They are building something around the fountain again but the design is different. This green and white thing showed up Friday. I’m making guesses in my head as to what this will be. Maybe a drum? Will they build another Jack-in-the- box?

Last year I had my doubts as I watched this huge box get built in the middle of the green. I really thought it was going to be ugly. In the end it wasn’t bad at all.

I don’t think it was as nice as the year they surrounded the fountain with angel heralds but that’s just my opinion.

Now that I’m working from home I’ll be able to sneak down to check on the progress better than in years past.

It’s going to be fun watching the scene unfold.

Photo of the Week~ Week 44

Posted on November 3, 2012November 3, 2012 by Dusty Roads

I had the pleasure of visiting a local elementary school for their Halloween Parade. My friend’s daughter, Dawn, was Princess Ariel. Dawn recently lost her front baby teeth so getting her to smile is, well, like pulling teeth. 🙂 She still makes a beautiful princess. Happy Halloween!

Christmas decorations already?

Posted on November 3, 2011November 3, 2011 by Dusty Roads

What happened to Thanksgiving? Wasn’t Halloween only last week? The candy is still on sale!

I drove by the Taunton Green and they are stringing the Christmas lights already. Since Taunton is known as The Christmas City the display each year is quite elaborate so I’ll give them a little slack.

However I ran into Walmart to pick up a few things and there by the door was a fully decorated Christmas Tree! Inside the store you could shop to the tune of Jingle Bell Rock.

Maybe it was the early snow storm that swept through New England but I still think the Christmas trees and decorations should go up the day after Thanksgiving….one holiday at a time!

Of course if retailers must get ready for the season before Thanksgiving, could’t we have a week or two after Halloween to finish eating our candy before we start to think of cookies and milk for the Jolly Old Elf?

Merry Thanksmas everyone. Have a Bootiful day 🙂

Ode to Halloween

Posted on October 31, 2011October 31, 2011 by Dusty Roads

Halloween’s a special time. It’s the time when the veil between our world and the afterlife is thinnest according to Celtic tradition. We dress in costume to fool the ghosts and ghouls who walk the earth for one night each year. So don your cloaks, get out your wands and keep you black cats close.

LITANY FOR HALLOWEEN

From ghoulies and ghosties,
Long-leggety beasties,
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us.

-Anonymous

THE GHOST OF A FLOWER

“You’re what?” asked the common or garden spook
Of a stranger at midnight’s hour.
And the shade replied with a graceful glide,
“Why, I’m the ghost of a flower.”

“The ghost of a flower?” said old-time spook;

“that’s a brand-new one on me;

I never supposed a flower had a ghost,

Though I’ve seen the shade of a tree.”

-Anonymous

Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular 2011

Posted on October 22, 2011October 22, 2011 by Dusty Roads

Last year I discovered The Jack-o-lantern Spectacular at the Roger Williams Park and Zoo. It’s a carved pumpkin trail lit only by the glow of thousands of pumpkins.

And last year I went alone to see what it was all about. This year I suggested to my friend Nancy that we take her two young children, Dawn (5) and Alex (7).. The only problem is that since I work weekends we would have to go on a weeknight aka school night.

Nancy decided it was worth it to keep them up so at 4:30 I was pulling into their driveway and we were bundling the kids into the car.

This year there was a new theme: All-new theme for 2011! The theme of this year’s show will be “A Journey Around the World.” It will include scenes from the Seven Wonders of the World (Taj Mahal, the pyramids and Sphinx, Mayan ruins, the Great Wall of China, and others) as well as representations of nations around the world, including a “European Vacation” and a trip through the Great White North complete with falling “snow”! And of course the famed centerpiece of the display, the “Laughing Tree,” will be back in all its spooky splendor. Visitors will be dazzled by hundreds of glowing jack-o-lanterns on the ground and in the branches, from tiny sugar pumpkins to gigantic gourds reaching up to 1600 pounds! (From RW web site)

We stopped at MacDonald’s and the kids were really wired. This was exciting for them then it was back on the road. We made one wrong turn… a slight detour that made me think of my sister’s philosophy…we’re not lost, just sight seeing…and then back on track it wasn’t long before we spotted the swan boats.

A bit farther along and we were being directed into a parking lot. Boy was it full! Even so we didn’t have to wait in line that long and were soon on our way to the start of the trail.

At first Alex was a little whiney..I’m not really sure why and Dawn kept saying she was scared but before too long we got to a section with music and from that point on the kids were in their element They danced the rest of the way.

According to the web site Photography is allowed on the trail when it will not impede movement on the pathway.
EXCEPTION: flash photography, tripods and monopods may not be used out of consideration for other people enjoying the magic of the trail.

I struggled along trying to get pictures with a long shutter without support..a near impossible task, while many people around me used their cameras, flash and all. Last year the No Flash Rule was strictly enforced but this year it seemed everyone was using flash.

I don’t know how long we took to walk the trail. The web site says it’s 45 minutes. It seemed to go fast to me but it was late when we got back to the car.

The kids were out cold before we were out of the parking lot. I had a great time and can only hope the kids did too. They were so tired when I dropped them off that I think they would have said yes to just about anything. 🙂