Danskcolin: Friday October 27th 2023

Halloween is in the air now - no doubt about that, it's only 4 days away, and Lois and I are trying to "gear up for it", even though we're now in the "old codger" class, no getting away from that haha!

And as I browse, as you do, the local news for Gentofte, the Copenhagen suburb where our daughter Alison and family lived 2012-2108, I see that even the local Lutheran priest has been weighing in on the vexed subject of "Halloween - should the Church be keeping clear of the whole malarkey?".

The priest starts with a brief discussion on the origins of Halloween - the Christian "All Saints Day Eve" in old English (Danish: "Allehelgens Aften") was effectively blended with the pagan Celtic "Death of Summer Harvest Festival" (Samhain), and has been celebrated for centuries in Britain and Ireland, and taken to North America by the colonists.

This Danish priest's name is Tea, which sounds like a drink, but it's actually the Danish equivalent of the English name Thea.

Tea Lange Olsen, the local Lutheran priest at one of the local churches

in Gentofte, the Copenhagen suburb where our daughter and family lived

Then "Tea" comes out with what is, at first sight, a rather gloomy message: "In autumn, when the leaves fall from the trees and the apples rot on the lawn, nature is a kind of meditation on death. It makes sense to me as a priest to celebrate Halloween, because the holiday, behind its external focus on horror and horror, makes room for us to wonder about one of the biggest taboos of our time – that we all have to die one day."

local parish priest Tea Lange Olesen, seen here with

her predecessor priest at Ordrup Church, Bodil Olesen.

Then Tea goes on:

"Halloween is also made use of for strictly commercial purposes, but it also has the plus point that it dares to talk about death as a part of life.

"I believe that it is a no-brainer for the church to help celebrate Halloween, since the church should be helping to de-taboo death and give space for both children and adults to reflect on the impermanence of life and light a candle for a missing loved one.

"This year we are holding night church for children in Ordrup Church on 31 October between 5 and 7.30 pm, where there will be spooky organ music, candle lighting, ghost stories and goody bags for all visitors. I hope to see you!

Well sorry, Tea, we can't make it this year - other commitments, you know how it is haha! But great little weighing-in there, I have to say!

Tea Lange Olsen, weighing in on the vexed subject of

'Halloween - Should the Church Stay Clear of the Whole Malarkey?'

As her final flourish, Tea recalls, "Remember that you are going to die," people used to say to each other on Halloween, not to take the joy out of life, but to give it a greater intensity and excitement!"

Well, there's plenty of excitement going on here in mine and Lois's house today in Malvern, where our number one daughter Alison and our number two daughter Sarah, are both here with 4 of their 5 children.

Isaac (13) and Josie (17), plus Lois, wait anxiously

while the twins, Lily and Jessica (10), emerge from their dressing room

and come downstairs in their 2023 Halloween costumes

Et voila !!!! Awwww, so cute !!!!!!

10:30 And it's off in two cars to the quaintly-named Worcestershire village of Edwyn Ralph, to visit the local Ralph Court Gardens, where a full Halloween Experience is being offered with spooky displays etc.

our two daughters Alison and Sarah plus 4 of their 5 children

approach the entrance to Ralph Court Gardens

Lily sticks her little face in the hole in the welcome sign - awwwww !!!!

Tremendous fun !!!!!

And, last but not least, here's they've even got a traditional "coffin that springs open" display - would YOU dare press that red button?

Go on, be honest!!!!

Our daughter Sarah eyes the red button cautiously,

before "taking the plunge" and causing the coffin to spring open

It's all a bit reminiscent of the famous "Flight Into Terror" episode of the 1990's sitcom "Father Ted", isn't it. You know, the episode when, on a flight home to Ireland, Father Dougal is invited to see the cockpit and he becomes strangely fascinated when he sees a big red button with a "DO NOT PRESS" sign.

Do you remember?

What a load of malarkey....

But, at the same time, tremendous fun !!!!!!

[That's enough fun for today, Colin, or I'll have to ask you to take a bit more of your medication! - Ed]

13:00 It's back to mine and Lois's house in Malvern for a record-breaking lunch: 8 is the highest number of guests we've ever had round the dining-table in our little kitchen-diner, with the table fully extended this time. And after the lunch Alison, Josie and Isaac have to set off for their home in Headley, Hampshire, after their 2-day stay with us.

clockwise round the table from the left: Isaac (13), me (77), Lois (77),

Sarah (46), twins Lily and Jessica (10), Alison (48) and Josie (17)

Alison, Josie and Isaac depart for their home in Headley, Hampshire

after their 2 night stay with us here in Malvern

14:00 Lois and I retire upstairs to bed for a much-needed nap and a kind of a battery recharge, figuratively "plugging ourselves in".

All over our house over the last few days, "devices" have been plugged into sockets for recharging. It's a big part of the modern world, isn't it. Well, Lois and I can't "plug ourselves in", not in the modern way, anyway - they haven't developed that kind of a charger for "old codgers" yet.

But is there a 'feasibility study' going on anywhere? I wonder.....! I think we should be told, and quickly, don't you?

16:00 But there's no rest for the wicked haha! Because soon there's even more fun happening downstairs, as Sarah and the twins, who are staying here now with us, from tonight till Sunday morning, start work on one of the two giant pumpkins that Lois and I ordered for them from Morrisons Supermarket this week.

And later, the pumpkin looks super-gorgeous when we try it out with a little night-light inside, out on the patio table, as the light fades and the evening wears on.

Fabulous stuff - and the pumpkin's wickedly winking eye is full of the "intensity and excitement of living", which is what that Danish priest, Tea Lange Olesen, recommended in her thoughtful reflections on Halloween this year (see above). My goodness yes!

21:00 It's only 9 o'clock, but everybody's tired. The twins go up to bed, and Lois and Sarah go upstairs too, to read the twins a bedtime story, which gives me a chance to "chill" on the couch, and wind down with tonight's edition of the comedy news quiz "Have I Got News For You!" on BBC1.

Tonight, at a crucial moment in the game, with the two teams' scores poised delicately at 2 points to Ian Hislop's team and 3 points to Paul Merton's team, presenter Jack Dee introduces a new topic: the growth of violence during French petanque or boules games.

a typical game of Petanque or Boules, the favourite sport of

French 'old codgers', or "vieux gars" as the French call them

A bruised and battered French boules-referee has recently been complaining about this worrying new trend, apparently.

Yes, I've often thought it's slightly weird that the French don't have an expression equivalent to the English phrase "deja vu". It's like that other famous gap in the French language - they don't have a word for "entrepreneur" either, do they, as was pointed out a few years ago.