O Great Pumpkin,
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot complete,
The focus to complete the things I can,
And the craftiness to camouflage the bare spots so nobody will know the difference.
So back in September, I downloaded the latest episode of the Hauntcast Post Mortem podcast, ready to dive in and digest all of the amazing/hilarious/informative segments in the roll up to Halloween night. Except that I didn't...
I never found the appropriate time in my busy schedule to sit down and press play. My time was already more than accounted for with other, more pressing Halloween tasks and projects. My intent was always to find the time, but like a few other Halloween projects this year, it just fell through the cracks.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving morning. I'm setting out for an early morning solo drive down to my mother-in-law's house to celebrate the holiday with family. I realized that the two-hour drive would be a perfect time to finally get to that latest episode. I put the car in drive and finally, finally press play.
One of the segments that I always look forward to is Revenant's "Theater of the Mind." Always something that really resonates with me. And this segment REALLY stood out.
As I was driving, I started paying more attention to each word. It was like I had written the segment myself and that he was narrating an essay that had come directly from my hand. I couldn't believe it! As the segment continued, the smile on my face grew larger and the other drivers around me must have thought me insane as I let out laughs and bursts of "Exactly!" or "Yep!" to an empty car.
It's wonderful to know that others have the same highs and lows throughout the Halloween season and that they also "get" the true absurdity of the whole thing. Yet, like me, they also understand the true reasons of why we do what we do each October, and why it is so vital in continuing to do so.
As the segment came to an end, I was giddy with energy. It was everything that Halloween meant to me, perfectly packaged in a tidy 11 minute segment. I actually stopped the podcast to listen to the segment again. That little, unexpected jolt brought back all of the energy and excitement from Halloween night. It was perfect.
Do yourself a favor and go download the latest episode of Hauntcast here (if you haven't already). I've only gotten through the first half of the whopping 4 hour episode, and so far, all of the segments have been really good (and I have yet to get to the interview with Allen Hopps, which couldn't possibly be anything but amazing).
And if you'd like to get a snapshot into the small world of Highbury Cemetery, fast forward to Revenant's "Theater of the Mind" segment at 26:27. It's a wonderful jolt of Halloween fun and energy. Something that we all could use, now that the big night has passed for another year.
Thanks, Hauntcast.
