11.01.19 – It is that time of the year again, November has arrived. And thus starts my favorite time of the year: Autumn and Winter.
Happy Diwali! Happy Halloween! Happy Dia de Muertos! Happy All Souls/All Saints Day!
Happy start of NaBloPoMo! Yes, I will do my best to post daily here this month!
Wahoo!
******
Photo of the Pumpkin contest at the Irvine Hyatt House taken by Ms. Jen on 10.28.19.
Wed 11.02.16 – Today is All Soul’s Day and while I am not a Roman Catholic – I find the idea of Purgatory to be quite alien – I do enjoy the days of Allhallowtide. At my Grandpa Jim’s Catholic funeral a few weeks ago, it was the priest’s reciting of the faithful dead’s names that sent tears falling down my face, particularly that my Grandma Grace’s name (first of four wives and a Protestant) was included in the list. Five an a half years later, I still miss my Grandma Grace something fierce.
Today, on All Soul’s Day, I give you three very awesome, independent ladies in 1960 or 1961: my Great Aunt Babe, my Great Grandma Rachel, and my Grandma Grace when they flew to Detroit from LA to pick up a brand new blue Cadillac and drive it all the way back to LA themselves. I like to imagine their road trip as a gun-free and slightly more proper version of Thelma and Louise.
While I like Halloween, I don’t love it, and in recent years I haven’s really gotten into it. I much prefer Groundhog’s Day over the other 3 solar cross-quarter days (May Day, Aug 1, and Halloween).
Halloween last year found me hiking around the hills above Glendalough and that evening sitting in my room amazed at all the fireworks. Halloween in Ireland includes lots of bonfires and fireworks and not so heavy on the costumes/fancy dress and/or trick or treating. It is a good old fashioned fire holiday. Goodbye summer, hello winter.
I am a fan of All Saints Day, even though I did not grow up Catholic. In college instead of throwing a Halloween party, I had an All Saint’s Day party on Nov. 1 where everyone had to come as their favorite saint. The best part is when the “Hermans” came dressed as the 80s metal band, Saint.
As I am a day late on a post about All Saints Day, I shall celebrate All Soul’s Day or Dia de los Muertos today by going to lunch at El Camino Real and then attempting wake Alex from the dead mid-afternoon… ;op