This is a place to pour out my thoughts that are normally stuck in my head. I will not be seeking agreement from others, but anyone is free to respond.

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On this All Hallows Eve, I've had only one "tricker-treater"; then I turned off my porch light. I am saddened that our world has become so scary that parents cannot feel that their children are safe going door to door on Halloween. It's hard to recall when that scariness began - razor blades in apples, LSD or marijuana in cookies or brownies. I think it might have started in the '60s.

When I was a child, Halloween was fun. My parents took my sister and I to costume parades in our small town of Whittier. We went door-to-door in our neighborhood with no problems. We had a white arbor woven with a pink rose vine in the backyard and a banana tree where next door neighbor, little Davey, kissed my sister on the cheek - images of a "Leave It To Beaver" existence. I wish we could all have that back, but it will never be.

Throughout this day I have been anticipating All Saint's Day - tomorrow. Long ago, I chose St. Joan of Arc - Maid of Orleans - as my personal saint because of her passionate faith and also because I've always felt we were both misunderstood. That's not a complaint; we just saw certain things in life differently from most people.

My family and I moved to Orleans, France many years ago. It was my freshman year of high school. Nothing like starting such a formative year in a different country on (what seemed to me) the other side of the world. St. Joan is revered everywhere in France, but Orleans has a special place in its heart for her. She invaded my soul at that time and has been with me since. Several years ago I became a Benedictine Oblate and took "Joan" as my Oblate name.