ONLY A DREAM

 

It was only a dream and it has vanished. My favorite season, favorite month, my desperate yearning to see my rural home and beautiful property.

Perchance of a dream.

"We dare not go ashore lest perchance we should fall into some snare."

Old English saying, old French? I remember that from vague childhood.

Of course, there are no happy endings. I've said that...many times.

A very serious back/spinal flare up has prevented me from my plans for escape. My left leg is completely swollen, I am in severe pain. I'm getting such excruciating spasms that I scream in absolute agony. No exaggeration.

Nurses are consulting doctors for.....more meds. Probably muscle "relaxers." Shall I laugh? You can see my bitterly sweet smile.

 Ironically, when I came in here several months ago I had the exact problem with my right leg. Now that's gone to the left. Bitter irony exists.

But, wait! Perhaps I can conquer the struggle and.....survive....??

I'm remembering....

The little choo-choo that said....I can......I think I can........

It's Halloween! We should celebrate! I can only offer my (paltry imaginative) visions of this season. My mind is muddled with vicious medications that I'm being plied with. Who knows how this post will materialize. ???

Jon 🤎 timidly hopeful

Don't be afraid to comment. Thanks to a recent big Blogger glitch, I still can't reply to them. My attempted replies keep mysteriously vanishing.

You, of course, keep me going with your thoughts and encouragement. 

You might not know this -  because my brutal sarcasm sometimes gets in the way - -but I cherish you for your opinions and thoughtfulness. 

I made several of these and didn't know which to choose.

The guy in the middle is demanding for treats - - perhaps a little catnip candy......or tuna....

Puppies love Halloween, too, but look sad and hate to see it go....

Intriguing witches cast midnight spells to enchant the red foxes.

These wolf pictures are my favorites (I made about a dozen versions)- - recently edited these to make them brighter, but my effort made them more gaudy I think (??)

.....and Halloween is (regrettably) winding down like a wayward clock. . I have a passion for Halloween clocks....Paranormal John gave me the incentive.....

Getting acquainted with the rambunctious  geese...

....and other autumnal wild life

Getting acquainted under the Harvest Moon.....don't shudder....anything can happen under the spell of an autumn moon

Goddess of Autumn

Some sheep being soothed by a shepherd boy's flute

Mellow, nostalgic, intoxicating days.....

Surrealistic, uncertain nights...

Things you might find on unknown paths

To the depth of unwanted dreams......

This post is definitely too long, but autumn is never too long.

It could last as a priceless eternal memory

almost a dream

almost

IMAGINING OCTOBER

 

Well, my imagination is all I have left and I want to share it with you.

Medical updates and autumnal images mix as well as heaven and hell. First I'll give a brief medical update.

I saw the wound care doctor yesterday (Tuesday?). Usually there's an annoying entourage - - two doctors, a nurse practitioner, and an "assistant". Yesterday it was only my usual wound care doctor. No one else.The cancerous wound on my upper arm has shrunk condiderably, no bleeding at all for the past two weeks. Good news.

Another curious bombshell. The mysterious Cookeville doctor appointment on November 10th that nobody told me about has suddenly been canceled. Who canceled it.....and why? Halloween goblins playing tricks? This same thing has happened numerous times over the past months.

And, of course, I ask questions......and nobody knows.

A lot of nothing is known here. A lot.

A transition

I know nothing about this autumn 2025 nor anything about my house and property.

Probably never will. No, no.....let's not go to the unknown.

I'm zonked on medications that do not alleviate the pain. 

I can only offer my personal imagination of autumn. I made at least 200 autumn AI images this year. It was nearly impossible to pick favorites.

Jon, ❤️

When you speak of this, and you will.........be kind.

I'm teasing you with "Tea and Sympathy".

"Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!"

Count Dracula to Jonathan Harker.

I like these images so much that it inspired a rerun.....from the 1897 novel "Dracula" by Bram Stoker.

Midnight journey to Dracula's Castle.

I've been having an interest in antique Halloween clocks, so I "created" some - - which were inspired by Paranormal John (who likes my "real-life" antique Halloween clock).

Midnight Hungarian Magyar duet with violin and mandolin.

Journey of the witch

Could be the witches' house

Telling ghost stories.....

October Eve

Midnight Rider

Danse Macabre

Autumn, stitch by stitch

And my real, genuine autumn clock

P.S.

Well, I've successfully published my reply to Carolyn's comment - - but my numerous attempts replying to Kim, John, Myra, Rita, Dorothy and Ron's comments have completely failed. Blogger Halloween pranks?

My apologies, Jon

Ron, you can steal any of my pictures  😸

SWEET MEMORIES

While I was in the process of Googling vintage Halloween stuff (a pathetic example of how I waste my time) I happened to come across this ancient ad for Wowe-e. It immediately ignited a burst of childhood memories.

Candy and childhood are synonymous and the Wowe-e  harmonica whistle was one of my all-time favorites. Actually, it wasn't candy at all. It was made of sweet wax that could be chewed like gum. Most kids, however, liked the whistle so much that they didn't want to ruin it by chewing the wax. The Wowe-e whistles were 5 cents - which was a little out of my price-range - but I did manage to buy a few during my recklessly indulgent wonder years.

The wax whistles were patented in the 1920's and made by Glenn Confections. The above ad is from 1948, which was before my time. I remember them from the 1960's.

The original Wowe-e whistles are no longer made, but I think reasonable facsimiles are available. When I was a kid, it wasn't Halloween without them. I still remember the distinct fluted sound of the whistle.

 These are the exact whistles that I remember

with the same Halloween labels

I was crazy about the wax novelties that always appeared at the beginning of the Halloween season. Big red wax lips, black mustaches, vampire teeth, and wax fingers. I seldom chewed the wax, but rather preferred to keep my treasures preserved in a small box in the refrigerator. Naturally, my father would inevitably throw them out. 

The height of my childhood candy career came between the ages of 8 and 11, when we lived in Pomona, California. There were two stores where we kids would always buy candy - Ted's Liquor Store and Roy's Liquor Store. Both were located on Fifth Street, the street on which I lived (Fifth Street has since been renamed Mission Boulevard).

Ted's was a small store. We went there very often solely because it was conveniently located on our way to school. Unfortunately, Ted was the meanest son-of-a-b***h in Pomona. An incredibly grouchy old man who hated children (it's bitterly ironic that I can fully relate to his feelings now).

He would grumble under his breath as we dug out our pennies to purchase candy. He also always checked our pockets and lunch boxes to make sure we weren't stealing.
When I was a child, I was so impeccably innocent and unbearably honest, that the thought of stealing never even entered my mind.

Roy's Liquor Store was twice as big as Ted's and much more child-friendly, but we only went there on weekends because it was much farther down the street. Roy's had an enormous selection of candy. And comic books.

Is it only the sweet nostalgia of my memory, or was the quality and taste of candy really better back then?

There were so many varieties of candy favorites that my faulty memory can't contain them all.

Bit-O-Honey and Good & Plenty, Sugar Daddies and Black Cows, thin Necco Wafers and jellied Chuckles. Turkish Taffy in chocolate, banana, and strawberry. Impossibly hard Jujubes. Root Beer Barrels. Hot Tamales. LifeSavers. Tootsie Rolls. Abba-Zaba. Pay Day and Clark Bars. Chunkies. Giant jawbreakers that had different layers of colors.

Black Jack chewing gum, Chiclets, Dubble Bubble and Bazooka Bubble Gum. Not to mention candy cigarettes and cinnamon-flavored toothpicks. And bubble gum cards.

I remember when a little Mexican girl in our class accidentally swallowed a cinnamon toothpick and had to be rushed to the hospital. Our teacher Mrs. Butler immediately gave us a harrowing lecture about the dangers of cinnamon toothpicks.

Returning to the wax theme, I used to like those little cartons of tiny wax bottles that contained colored sugar liquid. They are still being manufactured under various names and variations.

The present restriction of political correctness has inspired the ban of the once-popular wax six-shooters. They were pistol-shaped and (like the little wax bottles) were filled with a sweet colored liquid that you could drink.

I also recall the now obsolete and politically incorrect Nigger Babies. The startling, offensive name inspired me to do some research, but information is vague and very conflicting. They are mentioned in a 1945 issue of Confectionery & Ice Cream World, vol. 33, page 34.

Many people remember this candy but even the description varies. The original candy was supposedly made of licorice, but later the little baby-shaped candies were made of a caramel chocolate. I distinctly remember the chocolate-type ones.

My guess is that different candy companies manufactured similar black "baby" candies under various names at  different times - including Chocolate Babies and Tar Babies.

In the innocent age of my childhood the name wasn't considered offensive and we kids never thought of it as being racist. I actually thought the little babies were cute. Things are entirely different in the present era of intense racial awareness and extreme hypersensitivity. At any rate, the candy was never particularly popular.

While I'm on a roll, who could forget Pez? Let's face it, Pez candy was absolute crap but those dispensers were immensely appealing. They are still being manufactured and the old ones are collectibles.

Childhood trends come and go, but the intrigue of candy will always remain.

With sweet wishes,

Jon

P.S.

I wrote this post several years ago and figured it was time for a rerun.

Halloween candy is alarmingly expensive nowadays.