What a Fortnight!

Sis had the flu and now she has pneumonia.  It's been a rough two weeks for her and, while she is on oral meds at home, she is still coughing and exhausted.  We have reassurances from school that she'll catch up--they'll adjust her assignments and excuse the absences with a doctor's note.  Right now, she's too tired even to contemplate work.  She's not even going to see her horse often, so you know she doesn't feel well.

And right in the middle of that, Bud started throwing up and missed a few days of school himself.  We thought he might be getting the flu, too, but we were all tested and are negative.  It just must have been some virus that thankfully we didn't all catch.  Now he's just jealous that his sister doesn't have to go to school, even if she's sick.

What else?  I think I have a whole list of things to mention (pardon the repeat from my email in some bullet points, Lambeth!)

• Did I ever even talk about Halloween?  Sis was Dean, from the tv show "Supernatural," one of the demon-and-monster fighting brothers in a show that crosses "X-Files" and "Buffy."  Bud was Dipper, from the animated show "Gravity Falls;" he's a code-breaking sleuth.  We went to the office Halloween party and then, night of, they had friends over for pizza and trick or treating and a huge candy swap at the end.  I love that they still want to trick or treat as teenagers AND that are neighbors don't seem to care about their age.
• About the same time, I had my own party:  a hygge party, based on the Scandinavian idea of coziness.  I had a few close friends over for a casual night of comfy clothes, Frito chili pie, hot buttered rum, almond cake, candles, fairy lights, and conversation.  And we all thoroughly enjoyed it.  I didn't rush around preparing, nor did my friends expect any sophisticated entertaining--we actually curled up on the couches under various afghans! I even gave them all fluffy socks and little candles.  Delightful!
• Our cat Hermione has developed arthritis.  She moves awkwardly and slowly, preferring little cat stairs to get on the bed or couch.  And she is always looking for warmth and so sleeps behind my knees in the bend in my legs, sits next to anyone on the couch, follows the sun patches around the house through the day, or curls up in her special heat-generating "poofs" (which have a layer of that silver-ish, heat-reflecting material they give to marathoners and people in crisis.)  Though, she can still "high tail" it for food or to chase the other female cat, Eris. To help Hermione out a bit, we're now giving her CBD oil, the non-hallucinogenic substance in marijuana (as opposed to TCH.)  They say it has a physical effect sort of like a warm bath; she does seem a bit more physically relaxed.  She has definitely relaxed a bit about Eris, so that Eris can now sleep on the big master bed during the day and was even curled up not too far from Hermione the other day (though definitely not touching.)  And our new Romeo is settling in, spending his days with Sis, who curls up in a big, soft, pink, fluffy blanket.  He even sleeps with her (which is good because Hermione won't let him on the bed in our room.)  he'll miss her when she's well, though at least he will have the blanket.
• We have a new street!  After a few years of widening pot holes and deteriorating asphalt, the street has been re-paved.  It's lovely, though we still don't have curbs.  I've got my fingers crossed for curbs so that the water doesn't erode my yard where it meets the road as it has for a few years now, creating a wider and deeper ditch that I have to specially mark so people don't trip (especially on Halloween!)  Good thing people don't walk around much, I suppose.  Because we won't ever get sidewalks!
• I am taking two classes at seminary (though, online) come springtime as I begin work on my MA of Religious Studies in order to become a board-certified chaplain.  One class is the history of Christianity, which will look at the different iterations (Ethiopian cave churches, Roman catacombs, evangelical tent revivals) from the early church to present.  I think it will have a lot of archaeology, which I especially like.  Second is "There's Something about Mary," which examines the different Marys of the Bible in a socio-historical and also (oh, the lingo) a "womanist biblical hermeneutics"!!!!!  The final project is to examine a contemporary representation of a Mary--I'm thinking Andrew Lloyd Webber's hippy Magdalene or the almost-Booker prize winner Colm Toibin's Testament of Mary, which depicts the Virgin as a depressed, isolated, and bitter older woman resenting her son's disciples.   I love school.  And I'm really excited to become a "real" chaplain.  Somebody needs to be there at hospice for people who aren't mainstream Christians (the Catholics have hospice covered!)--who are members of other religions, no religions, a mixture, unchurched, spiritual but not religious, atheists.  And I think I'm that somebody to offer solace and comfort (but not answers.)
• In preparation for our Thailand trip, I'm reading a book on the Buddha which answers a question I've often wondered:  why is there no single Buddhists sacred text the way there is the Bible or Koran?  Apparently, stories of Buddha were preserved orally and only written down later (hundreds of years later), but by competing sects who slightly altered the narrative, so that they don't really agree on a particular canon.  Add to that, even those manuscripts don't survive well--I think I read that the oldest extant Pali canon manuscript is only a few hundred years old.  Nothing like Dead Sea Scrolls.  And Buddhists don't quite see the texts as "in the beginning was the Word;" textual exegesis just isn't as central to the religion.  
• I watched the funeral of Bush 41 yesterday.  Solemn rituals and big, dramatic occasions always get to me, even if I wasn't quite mourning the late president.  The eulogies were informative--and entertaining in the way they lectured  #45 on character and charity and bi-partisanship.  I slightly remember Bush 41--I paid much less attention to politics then, but it was also less emotional, polarized, us vs them, angry.  I remember first getting riled about politics when Republicans kept trashing and attacking the Clintons, though if I think hard on it, I remember people not liking Reagan (though, much of that grew up afterwards.)  It's been downhill, civility-wise, since then.  Though I think it has also gotten dirtier--just look at Wisconsin GOP stripping the governor's office of power now that a Dem has defeated Republican governor Scott Walker--they didn't feel like he needed his power stripped when he was in office!  It's just ugly and there are few political remedies.  

• 

  Tulip stitch

  Even in the midst of all that, I have had time for my favorite hobbies.  I've crocheted blankets for a friend and a local fun-run raffle, even learning a new stitch, the tulip stitch.  I've been tangling as part of several online challenges, including Gratitangles 2018 and now 12 Days of Zentangle.  I love my meditative drawing practice.  I've also been reading more and have a book for downstairs, a book for upstairs before bed, and a book for the bathtub.  I've recently read a mystery featuring Fidelma, Irish nun-detective in 7th-century Ireland; the fifth and sixth Outlander books; a page or two of The Case for God, which is slow reading; the Buddha biography by the same author; and others I can't quite recall.  
• We've also been watching a lot of tv, with two sick kids.  They are working their way through a dozen or more seasons of Supernatural.  We enjoyed British comedian Sue Perkins's exploration of the Mekong River and especially love her on the Great British Bake Off (I think we are currently watching the newly-released season 3.)  Sis has started Outlander, though without the abusive sex parts.  Bud has a few animated series he's following, including Hilda-something.  I caught up with Grantchester, the Arrow, and can't wait to watch the second season of Mrs. Maisel.  We only have one tv plugged in right now and also use it for video games--they are all playing the new Pokemon game.
• I will delve into this at a later time:  I found proof that my ancestors on two branches of my family tree owned slaves. I have two partial names and the reference to four others. I always suspected as much, with many family members serving in the Confederacy and relatives having been in the south a century or more before the war, but learning it for fact has me overwhelmed and sad. I'm not quite sure what to do with this knowledge now....but I will do something. And acknowledging it has to be the first step.  I've joined a FB group, Coming to the Table, which connects descendants of both slave owners and enslaved peoples.  It's been informative, especially the resources page about reparations, financial and otherwise.  
• Sadness:  on our drive to the doctor's office on Tuesday, I hit an owl which flew up in front of my car. I never saw it coming, though I was going the speed limit; we just felt the thump and then I saw the round-faced, speckle-winged bird above my left headlight, flapping backwards. We pulled over but couldn't find it.  So it didn't die right there but somehow managed to leave.  My friends think this is a good sign; I'm a bit more pessimistic.  What chance does a bird, even a big one, have against a car?  Why did it have to be a beautiful bird of prey? I'm so sad.  (And no, I'm not ready to debate why it's sadder that something I like and is beautiful died vs. something ugly or not liked, like a snake. I know it's subjective and hypocritical.)
• Illusionists:  On Saturday, leaving Sis at home with what we then thought was the flu, we went to see a magic show on Broadway for Bud's Christmas present.  What a great show!  We especially liked the card tricks of Shin Lim, the mind-reading of Colin Cloud, and the sleight-of-hand of Darcy Oake.  In fact, Bud and I were both picked for separate tricks.  Colin Cloud read my mind!  He had me flip through a book and choose the top word on the left-hand page and remember it; he asked the same of two other audience members.  And then he "read" the word from my mind, "professional."  It really was astounding; and while I know there's a trick, I don't know what it is.  During his turn (we were seated very close to the stage in the second row), Bud was given an empty bottle in a box-inside-a-box to hold and then he chose a card out of a deck; later, of course, the card was in a corked glass bottle in the box-inside-a-box!  Now, the main "tell" that this was sleight of hand is that Oake did the same trick on Penn and Teller using the SAME CARD (5 of hearts) that Bud "chose."  I'm guessing it's a force of some kind but honestly neither Bud nor I saw it.  After the show and lunch at a nearby ramen place (Zen Ramen, not Sapporo because that dear old place has closed, forced out by raised rents), we went to Tannen's, the premiere NYC magic shop down by Macy's.  Bud had a great time conversing with the different magicians and seeing some of their tricks.  He bought a trick, a book, a beautiful Momento Mori deck, and a special card trick mat.  
• Thanksgiving:  did I mention Thanksgiving at all? We watched the parade in our jammies that morning, particularly liking that there were two female hosts (bye, Matt Lauer!!!)  And we liked the performance by the Prom cast, complete with kissing lesbian leads (it's about a girl who can't take her girlfriend to the prom so she enlists help!)  We bought tickets on the spot, to support the show and NBC for fairing the no-doubt controversial scene.  In the afternoon, we had Mama Teacher and her son over for muffalettas, snacks, conversation, and video games, since they were celebrating on a different day, just like we were. We all played MarioKart--and had a great time.  (Sis actually came down with a fever on that Thursday night but the clinic said on Friday that it was NOT the flu.  Harrumphf.)  We went to Goo's on Saturday, because he had been working at the hospital the other days.  I made Chex mix, the sweet potatoes, the green bean casserole, the cranberry-horseradish relish, and a lemon pie.  Goo did everything else, including a lovely charcuterie.  And Mama and her parents spent the day arranging and rearranging post-its in order to organize our trip.  In the evening after dinner, the kids and Goo played video games, including this fast one where you drum to the rhythm prescribed by the game, while making little characters dance to the music.  Very Japanese.
• BTS--Bud and I are still very much enamored of Kpop band BTS.  He practices their dance moves and I enjoy listening to the music in the car.  And we watch videos together sometimes.  When we were in NYC, for the magic show, we even went to the Line store, which sells BT21, a line of animated characters drawn by the members of BTS.  Bud got a few items, like J-Hope's horse character pillow and a key chain, and I even got a Koya (Koala, by RM) headband.  Yes, it's a cult.
• Reiki--and no, I didn't think of Reiki next because it is a cult (ahem)--I had my second Reiki  on Sunday, with the same teacher and students as last time.  This section added some words and hand signs, which really did make it seem more like an occult thing than the hands-on meditation did.  But there was also more references to Buddhism--"the light in me sees the light in you," connecting to your higher Self or buddhahood, and forget what else.  The next session has crystals and angels, but I think I'll stop here; crystals and angels and the Reiki grid which can create continuous Reiki without your participation just takes it all a few steps too far for me.  Hands on meditation that contributes to relaxation and peace, I can handle (though, true practitioners would see it more as aligning the chakra energy wheels than simple meditation.)  And I'm looking forward to using it with hospice patients, as just another modality for care and comfort.  I did try it on the kids when they were sick (mainly because they didn't want me to tell my teacher that they had said no!) and both were relaxed afterwards, as you would be lying still with your mom's hand on your head or shoulders or chest.  I did it on myself a few days later, when my neck was stiff from too much driving, and it did release the tension, just like mindfulness meditation releases tension in my mind.  It's all from the same place, I think.  
• In fact, I'll be going back to my PT soon to have her use her own therapy techniques (a unique combo of Western medicine and less scientific treatments) on the almost softball-sized scar tissue that has grown up in my lower abdomen and pelvic region from all the scars.  After consulting both my GI doctor and GYN and going through their tests, as well as talking at length with my caring and supportive GP, I decided that surgery isn't the answer for scar tissue which is pulling and pushing and causing regular discomfort; it'll just make more scar tissue.  I'm trying PT to try to break down some of the adhesions and meditation (particularly self-compassion from Kristin Neff) to assist my anxiety about the discomfort when it arises.  I hope it helps.

Whew, I think that's it for now.  I've blown through 30% of my laptop battery and a full hour of quiet between Mama's departure for work, Bud's departure for school, and now Sis's late arising.  Time to get up and get to the rest of my list . . . . 

Spirit Play: Labyrinths and Mandalas

We're well into our religious education (RE) year at our Unitarian Universalist church, where we're teaching the Spirit Play curriculum.  It's a kind of Montessori, learner-centered approach to RE the privileges storytelling and hands-on activities.  It's just our first year using Spirit Play and we only watched some videos and studied the manual; so let's call it Spirit-Play-light, since we don't have lots of felt manipulatives, pure retelling of the stories, and "I wonder" questions.  Still, we let the kids work their way through our theme using a few carefully designed and selected activities (though probably a little too much information and explaining; it's an extra challenge because our age range is 5 to 13.)

A few weeks ago, following another teacher's lesson on Sacred Spaces, I led a class on labyrinths.  I read a story entitled Ladybug's Labyrinth, which dealt with a little lost bug who follows a labyrinth and is able to calm down and not feel so lost, and we talked a little about personal sacred spaces (vs. communal ones) and meditation.  Then the kiddos had their choice of work:  making tape labyrinths on the floor, learning to draw a labyrinth, and using two of the labyrinths I brought (one finger, one ball maze.)  The eldest student worked on the two handheld labyrinths while my kids and the younger ones all worked on the large tape labyrinth on the floor (using the how-to-draw directions.)  Then they took turns racing around it like a race track.  We adults went through, too, much more slowly, but the little ones were more intent on the dizzy buzz they got running through it.  And that's okay.  (They did each try it the slow way, a least partly.) They all finished the class by drawing their own labyrinth on a white paper plate, thereby making their own finger labyrinth.  I wish the story had been stronger, but the kids had a good time, even if the whole idea of internal, personal, meditative space (or even labyrinths as metaphor for life's journey) got a little lost.  But experiencing the shape itself was very compelling for all of them.

Bud's

Mine

Today, I built upon the meditative practice of labyrinths by leading a class on mandalas.  We talked about mandalas as a (radially-symetrical) circle made by many religious traditions to aid in prayer, particularly Tibetan monks who make intricate ones out of sand, only to blow them away instead of keep them.  Impermanence.  It's also the time of death and dying--waning light, fall leaves, and Samhain, Day of the Dead, All Souls/Saints, and, of course, Halloween--when so many people feel more connection to those who have gone before us.  And we read Grandad's Prayers of the Earth, which tells of one grandfather explaining prayer to his grandson, who only really understands once his grandfather has died.  Prayer in this book as divined, briefly, as anything that connects one to the larger beauty of life, be it stillness, movement, laughter, song, or words spoken by grandparents . . . .

Sis's

And so we walked through our church's "backyard," stopping for a moment of silence by the stones of the Memorial Garden, where congregants' ashes are sprinkled.  We also picked up materials to make our own nature mandalas.  The kids worked separately and so diligently . . . and with the wind, we all experienced the impermanence of our art form.  And perhaps the older ones understood the metaphor.  At least the mandalas lasted long enough to show parents and take photos (because you know us humans, always trying to stop the impermanence.)

We called these gorgeous things "mandala leaves" for the layers of color.  No idea what tree they're from.

I'm not sure what I'll do at my next class in two weeks.  Maybe something on gratitude.

Fall Fun: Halloween!!

What a great Halloween weekend!

Friday night was a party for kids at Mama's office, which we realized we've been attending since they were about 2 years old!  No more strollers for us.  In fact, they were some of the oldest kids there (though, we didn't see most of the revelers, staying in Mama's area.)  They got candy, played some games, and, best of all, got to see where Mama works and meet several of her friends.  And admire their toy collection!  Yep, Nerf guns, Star Wars Legos, balance boards, and puzzles.  Work hard, play hard.  We rounded off the evening with some Israeli food, including a delicious vegetarian chopped "liver" and a surprising Sesame halvah ice cream.

SATURDAY!!!  The countdown for trick-or-treating began not long after ice skating and kung fu.  It was so hard to wait for dusk.  In fact, we didn't manage to wait that long.  By 2:00, we were making additions to their candy bags, adding costumes we hadn't put on.  And this time, they drew the pictures themselves, adding a Tri-force symbol for Link and an Avengers symbol for Black Widow for 2015.  Just growing up . . .



But not too grown up not to be impatient for trick-or-treating to begin.  And so, after obligatory photos, we made our traditional visits to some previous teachers, Mrs S (preschool) and Mrs K (1st and 2nd), who welcome us so warmly.  I wonder if I came up with this great ritual all those years ago so that we could start the holiday earlier!

When we got home, we met up with our super, secret, surprise guest--Beloved Babysitter!!  She was in town from her big life in the city and had time to come over and even take them trick-or-treating for a bit.  They went to a new street, where her brother lives, and got lots of candy.  So special to have her join us after all of these years.  She's like that cool cousin or older sister or something.  They just beamed to see her.

Then, as she left for her own revels, the kids went trick-or-treating by themselves, ALL ALONE!  Okay, sure, we made sure they stayed in our neighborhood area AND we gave them walkie-talkies to keep in touch.  Still, big step.  And they were so excited and later so proud to have been allowed to do it.  They walked so much, for so long, that they didn't even do the last houses in the cul-de-sac near us.  Their feet hurt and they had enough candy.  Wow.  (Meanwhile, Mama joined me in passing out candy to all the visitors--I love to pass out the candy!  No particular common theme this year, not even Zombies.  A few princesses, but not a particular one.  It was kinda all over this year.  I'd say we had 50+ trick-or-treaters, some of them not from our little area, which is fine with me.  And only a handful or two of teenagers; I give handfuls of candy to all, costume or no, young and old.  I loved to trick-or-treat so who am I to judge?)

They did the traditional sorting--and passing along of nut candies to us (yay, Baby Ruth, Almond Joy, Snickers, Mr. Goodbar, Butterfinger, peanut M&Ms, and Reese's peanut butter cups!!)--and of course ate some for themselves.  Sis hoarded the plain Hershey bars, Twix, and Tootsie Rolls, while Bud kept hold of the Lifesaver gummies, Raisinettes, and Twizzlers.

We ordered pizza and watched the new "Doctor Who," glad to see the return of Osgood (I'm totally going to cosplay as Osgood next year!  As a BTS segment noted, that means I'd be cosplaying a cosplayer!)

Another great part?  We got to "fall back" and, for the first time in a decade, everyone understood the whole "sleeping in" part!!!

Just another great Halloween.

Fall Fun: Halloween Begins

Tomorrow is the first of a few of our Halloween celebrations.

In a way, we started this evening by "BOOing" some friends.  The kids were BOO'd on Tuesday night--in fact, it scared a few of us.  Mama and I were downstairs, with the kids upstairs, when we heard a distant knock.  The cats all jumped and Albus even growled.  But when I went to check the porch, which door was locked, there was no one.  And Bud said he had been banging around.  But a  bit later, a friend beeped me on FB, hoping it hadn't been too late to leave something on the step.  And there it was--our BOO bag, with candy and such.  So, tonight, we returned the favor, packing bags of toys and candy for a few friends.  We delivered them to a few people this evening (we have a few left.)

Tomorrow is our school party, with lots of kids, costumes, and candy.  We donated about 10 lbs of candy (meant to give just 7 but accidentally sent our bag of candy into school, too.  C'est la vie.)

We still have a few preparations to make--need to get out our favorite Ghostie to hang in the tree and our big orange metal candy bucket, get pumpkins and mums, buy more candy, and catch up on the decorations on the kids' trick-or-treat bags.  See, each bag has little doodles representing their costumes each year, but I don't think we're all caught up.  Here's a list, as I recall it:

Sis (in order):

1. a black cat (2005)
2. a gnome (2006)
3. Baby Jaguar, from "Diego" (2007)
4. vet (2008)
5. Kenai, from Brother Bear (2009)
6. firefighter (2010)
7. Harry Potter (2011)
8. Pikachu, from Pokemon (2012)
9. Quidditch Harry Potter (2013)
10. Legolas (2014)
11. Black Widow (2015)

Bud (in order):

1. pumpkin (2005)
2. a gnome (2006)
3. Mama Jaguar, from "Diego" (2007)
4. Yankee baseball player (2008)
5. Denahi, from Brother Bear (2009)
6. knight/Jedi (2010)
7. Harry Potter/Hermione (2011)
8. Ash, from Pokemon (2012)
9. Percy Jackson (2013)
10. Frodo (2014)
11. Link (2015)

And as I was thinking of what they were for Halloween, I started recalling a lot of my costumes.  I'm missing some, but here are mine, in no particular order, except generally:

• Tinkerbell, with actual jingling bells 
• a pink princess, with bric-a-bac on my diaphanous gown
• Princess Leia, with a tinfoil necklace Gommie made, just like the one in the ceremony scene
• Col. Wilma Deering, of "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," all in white
• Scarlet O'Hara, in one of Gommie's old prom dresses and Bammie's black fur stole
• Diana, Goddess of the Hunt, with a Moon headdress and a bow and arrow (5th grade?)
• Black cat
• medieval lady--I have vague memories of going in my Ren Faire outfit, with a flower garland
• Sherlock Holmes, with cape, Deerstalker, and pipe (high school)
• Belle, of Beauty and the Beast (freshman year of college)
• Clown in Black and White outfit
• Witch/Hogwarts professor, complete with scarf (church)
• Goody Bassett/colonial woman (church)

The Blaze

Today wrapped up our various celebrations of Halloween as we went to the Blaze, in Croton-on-Hudson in New York.   On the grounds of the 18th-century Van Cortlandt manor, thousands of pumpkins are arrayed in various thematic groupings.  We hadn't been before and were glad to get tickets this year.  

Before our ticket time, we grabbed (a very mediocre) dinner at a Greek restaurant nearby.  The kids liked it, but I thought it was dry and under-flavored.  But we LOVED the French bakery La Tulipe.  But got a raspberry-lychee pastry; Sis, a caramelized croissant.  I loved my rose-raspberry pastry.  And we have some macaroons we can't wait to eat.

Then off to the Blaze.  We saw a carver right up front who had one big, important tip:  cut off the bottom of the pumpkin and place the candle on the ground--this allows the pumpkin to dry out without staying damp and causing rot.  

And right away we began to see some of their pumpkins--along walls and even lit in an arch.  Then we followed the lit path to see the different displays.  In front of the manor, there was a circus with animals, and even a clown doing flips!  They also had a giant cake to celebrate their 10th anniversary.  There were also spiders with a giant spider web, Macbeth's witches with a cauldron, a whole graveyard with tombstones and hands coming out of the earth, skeletons, a yard full of cats, a tree full of eyes, even a headless horseman throwing his pumpkin head!  There was also a pumpkin tunnel of love, with many of the designs using hearts, a whole yard of dinosaurs (complete with hatching dinosaur eggs!), a Chinese dragon or Loch Ness Monster-y thing, a yard full of sunflowers, Celtic knots in honor of the origin of Jack O'Lanterns, and hutches full of creamware-inspired pumpkins.  All really quite amazing (and apparently, they end up carving most of them twice more because of decay over the month; some thousand a week!  Though, one volunteer admitted that a few of the big base pumpkins were "funkins.")

It was lovely and not too terribly spooky, even with the skeletons and rats.  And even though it was sold out, it didn't feel too packed.  Worth going again, maybe every other year.  We'll see if we're inspired to do any carvings ourselves next year!

Trick or Treats

We beat the forecast and got our holiday in before the rain!

The kids were actually ready to go trick-or-treating as soon as they got off the bus at 4 p.m., but we managed to wait until 6 p.m.  They were in costume by 5:30, though, as soon as we finished dinner.  Sis was Legolas, with bow, cape, and Elven pin, but no long blonde wig.  Bud was Frodo, also with cape, pin, and a sword.  Yep, it was Lord of the Rings year.

While Mama and I were getting our acts together, they did go to the two next door neighbors.  And then we all headed out in the car.  See, for the last several years, we have started off our evening with visits to friends further away, including the pre-school director, their 1st and 2nd-grade teacher, and my friend Mama Teacher.  This year, Mama Teacher was at the movies, but we did see the former two, which is always special.

It was dark by the time we got home and they hit the sidewalk running while I took up my usual spot on the bench in the front yard, ready to pass out candy (none of this waiting inside for the doorbell to ring; I like to watch everyone coming and going, socializing with the neighbors, etc.)  Mama went with the kids but followed along behind.

Especially because, at first, they were with Neighbor Boy.  Soon, they switched to the little girl on their bus (the younger one, not the one in their class) and her family, along with Mama--everybody seems to have enjoyed that more.  The little girl was Cinderella; her sister, a pirate with squeaky shoes.

Believe it or not, we only had one Elsa (so, the Frozen drinking game wouldn't have worked here!)  We had an adorable dad dressed as a pirate with his little girl as his sidekick parrot--she did a great squawk.  There were also a Maleficent, Daniel Tiger, several random superheroes, and one teenager dressed up as the Tardis with a Bad Wolf cap!

But the rain started by 8 pm, putting a damper on both our kids' and others' trick or treating.  Soon, Sis and Bud were splayed out on the enclosed porch sorting their candy, swapping for favorites, and discarding the unwanteds in the buy-back box. (Sis likes plain Hersheys and also Kit Kats; Bud likes Crunch bars and chewy sweet things.) Then, turning off the porch lights, we headed inside to watch our traditional "Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and "The Simpson's The Raven" and "Garfield's Halloween Special."

I had posted on FB earlier in the evening that we had non-food treats and had hung the poster with the teal pumpkin which indicated as much in our window.  But we had no takers looking for allergy-free treats.  That is until a friend on FB posted late wondering if we were still open so her allergic son could have a non-food treat.  We turned the lights back on and waited.  A few minutes later the kid, with his mom and dad in tow in the rain, showed up and we gave him two bottles of bubbles.  He was excited and so were we.

And that was pretty much it--we ate more candy (I got all the peanut stuff!) and finished our shows and were actually in bed at a decent hour, another happy Halloween, albeit a wet one, duly celebrated.

Pondering Halloween

The rain held off so that it was a dark but not stormy night.  In fact, it was quite temperate for a New England Halloween and the kids didn't even need jackets or long sleeves as they wandered out into the night.  They trick or treated alone this year, in that they didn't join any neighbor groups but went door to door together as we stood at the curb.  They did all the neighborhood houses--including the three near us that have been dark and candyless for the decade we've lived in Connecticut but are now inhabited by young families and Halloween participants--after first driving to a special chosen few.  Interestingly, few people tonight, or last night at Mama's office Halloween party for kids, recognized Sis's Quidditch robes or Bud's Camp Half-Blood shirt as belonging to Harry Potter and Percy Jackson respectively.  The few who did know, however, were appropriately excited.  Sis and Bud in turn were excited to see a colleague of Mama's in a T.A.R.D.I.S. shirt and Sis proudly told him that she was going to be the Doctor next year, the Tenth Doctor.  He approved.

Of course, their favorite part, both last night and tonight, isn't so much the gathering of candy, which is merely a means to an end, namely the eating of candy.  First, they sort their haul by type, then they engage in the all-important swap whereby one gives all of his Hershey bars in exchange for all of her Skittles and the other gives up all of  her mini-Crunch bars for all of his Whoppers.  It is a family ritual.  So is giving all of the nutty candies--Snickers, Almond Joys, peanut M&Ms, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups--to Mama and me.  We let them eat til they'd had their fill tonight and will be generous with the eating of candy for the next few days, until Mama does a candy buy-back program this weekend, another ritual.

I asked the kids about family rituals and traditions, as I was cutting out rounds of Soul Cakes this evening.  The spiced cookies were pretty good, actually, thicker and more tender than shortbread with a lot more spice (plus we used balsamic vinegar instead of white wine vinegar, which we didn't have.)  Anyway, I realized that oftentimes I don't repeat activities like Soul Cakes.  This year it's Soul Cakes (we played the song all afternoon); a few years ago it was roasted pumpkin seeds.  Next year, who knows?  Sis said she liked that we did new things each year as long as we kept some of the same traditions, like the great candy swap and drawing their costume for the year on their trick or treat bags and hanging up "Ghostie" in our tree.  For Thanksgiving, she said, we had to have turkey and gravy but she didn't feel like we had to do the same gratitude activity every year.  Christmas, among many other things, means the sock Advent calendar.  I'm glad we're all on the same page about holidays, with something old and something new.

Today during my (awful) school tour (I wasn't awful; the kids were crazed, as I expected them to be--my own Sis was, in her own words, "hysterically happy" about Halloween and Bud was dancing everywhere), I realized (again) how even a relatively widely celebrated holiday like Halloween can be controversial.  We were talking about fall and its holidays when a girl raised her hand and said, "Halloween is the Devil's birthday.  Christmas is God's birthday."  Gulp.  Of course, both personally and intellectually, I believe this is completely unfounded (see our research on Samhain here) and untrue.  But school tours are no place for theological discussions, especially with eight-year-olds, so I merely said that I understood that some people believe that but that the people who lived in the house in the colonial times wouldn't have believed that and nor would they have celebrated either one.  (No wonder our kids can't wear Halloween costumes to school!)  And then, true to form, I asked Sis and Bud what they thought of that later.  Sis said outright that she didn't believe in the Devil.  So I asked her how she would talk to a friend who said such things (and there are a few who would, as they are not allowed to celebrate Halloween because it's not in the Bible.)  "I have a different religion," she decided.  I told her that sometimes it was hard to disagree with friends, but she raised her hand for a high-five and said, "I'm a strong girl."  We also talked about how you can agree to disagree, how different people can believe different things.  And that belief and truth are not always the same thing, not by a long shot, regardless of how firmly someone (including us) believes something to be true.

On a lighter note, another girl on the tour asked if I would wear my colonial costume that night to trick or treat.  No, I said, these were my work clothes.  And she looked at me incredulously and asked, "This is your job?"  She was so shocked, so earnest, even though I'd already answered the question of how I'd learned all this stuff (years and years in school and then more studying afterwards!)  I do feel lucky to dress up in costumes for my day "job."  And in truth, my colonial outfit does make a great costume, but I leave the trick or treating to the kids.

Tomorrow is All Saints' Day and then All Souls' Day for some, Samhain for others.  And we'll be eating Soul Cakes and candy, singing a song used for both All Souls' and Christmas, planning our rituals and traditions (to express our beliefs, to overburden this wrap-up!) as we get ready for the trio of big winter holidays.  I love this time of year.

Happy Halloween!

Soulin'

Yesterday started our usual round of Halloween activities; we went to the school-sponsored trunk or treat.  Sis dressed up as Harry Potter, again, but this time in Quidditch robes; Bud was Percy Jackson, with Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, sword and shield.  They got a nice haul of nut-free candy, lots of lollipops and nerds and Jolly Ranchers and Twizzlers.  And that's just the beginning--we have mama's office party and then Halloween night.

As we sat around eating candy last night, we got to talking about the origins of Halloween, both pagan and Christian.  I talked about Samhain and the cycle of life and death here represented by the dying light and vegetation, also the thinning of the veil and the presence of spirits as in the celebration of Dios de la Muertos.  Mama mentioned All Saints and All Souls day.  And then we checked Wikipedia and several books like Circle Round for information, learning about guising and souling (kids dressing up--to trick the spirits?--on All Souls Day and asking for cakes representing souls released from Purgatory, the origin of trick or treating), jack o'lanterns made from turnips and only later pumpkins to light the way for souls.  And I remembered soul cakes from a song:

A soul, a soul, a soul-cake.Please good Missus, a soul-cake!An apple, a pear, a plum, or a cherry,Any good thing to make us all merry.One for Peter, two for PaulThree for Him who made us all.

We heard it first at Old Sturbridge Village and also know the Peter, Paul, and Mary version.  Mama thinks there's a sea chantey to the same tune.  It's stuck in my head . . . which is fine, because these days it's also sung as a Christmas carol.  And so it begins . . . .

And of course, I'm going to be making Soul Cakes, a spicy shortbread-like cookie.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Soul Cakes

340g plain flour (sifted) (approx. 1 1/2 cups)
170g sugar (approx. 3/4 cup)
170g butter (softened & diced) (approx. 3/4 cup)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground mixed spice (British sweet spice, like pumpkin pie spice; I used more cinnamon and a pinch of cloves)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 egg (beaten)
2 tsp of white wine vinegar (I used balsamic--yum!)

Preheat the oven to 200C (375-400F) and grease 2 flat baking trays
Thoroughly mix all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl – sifted flour, spices, and sugar. Rub in the diced butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add in the beaten egg and white wine vinegar and mix with a wooden spoon until a firm dough is made. Then cover it and put it in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Flour a working surface and roll out the dough to 7mm (around 1/4") thick and using a large round pastry cutter cut into rounds, (optional: use a straight edge to press into, and then draw a cross shape, in the top of the dough). Place these rounds on the greased baking tray and bake in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes at 200C until slightly coloured. Serve warm or cold.

RecipeWise
(When I convert this to US measures, I'll post them; also I have to figure out what "mixed spice" is.)

'Tis the Season

Sure, the Christmas decorations have been in the stores for awhile now, like this:

I think Big Bird can take 'em.

And like this:

From early October--but where are the Thanksgiving decorations?

But now the Christmas spirit is infiltrating our home!

Yep, the kids have begun practicing their holiday recital pieces.  Sis has "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas," while Bud is still choosing.

And those are mixed in with some ghosty music for Halloween.

Makes my brain spin.

Best. Halloween. Ever.

This morning, Sis and Bud, with the help of our young neighbor/babysitter M, distributed upwards of 60 pumpkin flyers to our three-block area announcing "Trick-Or-Treat Tuesday" in lieu of the town-appointed celebration day tomorrow, for which forecasters now predict a Nor'easter.  And tonight, their efforts paid off!  Sis and Bud went trick-or-treating with 16 neighborhood kids, some of whom they had just met for the first time (as we all shivered in the 34F!!!).  We just kept picking up kids as we went along.  Everyone was extra-thrilled to be out trick-or-treating after the storm last week and the postponement--it was like a bonus!  It was great to spend time with the neighbors, to talk to the ones I usually only see driving by and to meet a few new ones on the blocks further down (we don't all go to the same schools so we don't all know each other).  Best of all, almost half of the houses hung out their pumpkin flyers and welcomed our kids with candy!  Some bars were even regular sized, not mini!  (And there was the usual toothpaste/toothbrush house.)  There were even a few other groups who rang our bell after our kids started sorting their hauls at home, kids who got into the spirit after seeing that Halloween was really happening a day earlier than a week later!   I'm so proud of my kiddos for helping to make it happen for themselves and their new friends.  And I'm tickled with myself that it actually worked a thousand times better than I expected.   A great community-spirited night! 

SNOW??!!!

Depending on the forecast you consult, it's going to snow tomorrow!  No accumulations, just snow and ice and then rain--the famed "wintry mix."  A messy day to be sure.

And so we just wandered around our 3-block neighborhood passing out "Trick-or-Treat TUESDAY" signs, encouraging everyone to go out tonight instead of the rescheduled event tomorrow night--in 40+ mph winds and rain.  Hang a flyer on your door if you want trick-or-treaters; come out and join us if you have trick-or-treaters.  The neighbors I talked to thought it was a good idea.  Mama laughed that, with the bake sale, I was becoming a community organizer!

Some might say it's just time to let Halloween go this year.  But I know the kids are looking forward to it, a return to that normalcy everyone talks about--for them it's not the electricity and mass transit, it's school and Halloween.  And so I'm doing my best to give a little bit of that not only to my own kids but to our neighborhood (the town won't change it from tomorrow).

Besides, I've got almost 10 lbs of candy to get rid of!

Frankenstorm: Without Frankenstein

It was oddly quiet last night and I almost completely forgot it was Halloween.  Indeed, I was surprised at first to see a few posts of family and friends in costume!  And even though our Halloween was delayed, Target was replacing pumpkins with snowmen and ghosts with Christmas trees right on schedule.  After the initial disappointment, I think the kids forgot, too, and we had a very normal night.  Even with power and phone/internet out all over, everyone seemed to have gotten the message about the postponement; we didn't hear a single ghost or goblin.

We have a party Friday night, possibly, and our own Halloween next week, so we still get to celebrate.

Frankenstorm : The Trick is No Treat

Halloween is postponed until next Wednesday.

Frankenstorm

Yes, they're calling it "Frankenstorm."

You know it's odd when CT is preparing for its second hurricane in 14 months and my family in TX hasn't had any.  Pop has even called to check in about the "perfect storm."

Last year at this time, we had snow.

And no one is talking climate change this election cycle!

So, I'm heading out to the store for batteries, bread, and peanut butter (for us; the kids won't touch it.)  We have water, a corded phone, and gas in the cars.

The kids just want to know what will happen to Halloween!

Halloween Wrap-Up

Well, it sure wasn't the Halloween weekend we expected, what with snow pounding New England (a winter storm 55 days before the beginning of winter!), the loss of power by 3 million households, the cancellation of school all over, and then the postponement of the holiday in many places.  The damage was definitely worse than Hurricane Irene for many (1000 trees down in Central Park, eight times more than Irene). We were very fortunate to be below the heavy snow line--we still had power, school, and Halloween, with only one big branch down.  Pop called us "the Miami of Connecticut."  We are very lucky and grateful and stand ready to offer hot showers, laundry machines, and a warm place to visit to our friends.

Because of the storm, we couldn't attend two of our five celebrations.  One was postponed til next weekend; the other we missed (but Mommy Goose was very kind to bring us cupcakes and favors--thanks!!).  But we still got to go to two parties and then trick or treat.  As usual, Mama's office decorated for Halloween and had candy at every cubicle.  The kids wandered from department to department trick or treating.  Then we wolfed down fast food and headed to the school festival, which was held indoors this year.  The kids enjoyed the games, the fortune teller (just like Divination at Hogwarts!!!), the trick or treating, and the bake sale.  They made ghoulish popcorn hands with candy corn fingertips and spider rings.  And they chatted with their friends.  And then they crashed.

Saturday and Sunday were spent mostly at home just like on a regular snow day.

Monday dawned and they couldn't understand why they had to go to school on a holiday!  They got off the bus at 4 pm and wanted to change into their costumes right away.  But we had to do our homework (come on, teachers, really?  Homework on Halloween?  Frankly, that sucks.  I put up with homework on the principle that you have to do what teachers ask, even though I know from statistics that it is almost a completely useless and ineffective tool for learning.  I was tempted to ignore it, but that's not a good lesson either).  And then we had dinner, something healthy before the candy inundation.

Yep, I don't have too many issues with this yearly candy overload, even with the unfair cocoa labor practices, excess wrapper garbage, HFCS and unhealthy fats, and pop-culture laden costumes (ooh, feeling guilty about this now).  I figure the other 364 days outweigh the indulgences.  And we're not raisin people, either.  We give out candy (usually Dum-Dums, thereby avoiding the Hershey child-slave labor controversy) and we eat candy.  As much as they want on Halloween and then a few pieces everyday for a week, at which point we donate the remainders.

So at 5:30 they were fully dressed as Harry Potter, both of them--cloaks, ties, glasses, wands, and lightning-bolt scar--and took pictures outside.  But our group,headed by Neighbor Boy, wasn't ready to go out trick or treating.  We hopped in the car and headed to see Mrs. S, who generously invited us in and oohed and aahed (her grandkids were there, looking cute and ready to go), and then to Mama Teacher, who similarly welcomed trick or treaters early.  We got home just in time and headed out with our group.  Gone was any sign of shyness or reticence of Halloweens past.  Sis and Bud ran to each house and knew all their lines, carefully selecting their favorite, non-nut candies if given the chance to choose.  Kit Kats, Tootsie Rolls, Hershey Bars, and any chewy fruit things were the coveted candies this year.  Bud even got Swedish Fish!  And they both got a few full-sized bars.

They were done around 8 pm (I split my time with them and at home passing out candy), pouring their loot on the living room floor to sort out the unwanted treats and swap (treats unwanted by either child will go to Occupy New Haven), eating several pieces as they went and saving some like Smarties and Dots for Christmas gingerbread houses.  As 9 pm inched closer, Mama told them they could keep any candy they could keep in a box.  Can you guess whose box is whose?

Bud dumped his candy in and couldn't get it all to fit.  Sis sorted and organized hers, carefully layering the pieces so that there was space to spare (channeling Mama and Gong as she did it!).  When Bud was in tears that all his candy didn't fit, Sis then helped him with his box, managing to fit it all.  They left out two pieces for lunch today and headed, exhausted, to magical sweet dreams.

For those of you with the holiday still to come, have a wonderful and happy Halloween!

SNOW!! SNOW!!! SNOW!!!!

It wasn't supposed to snow until late tonight and, even then, I didn't believe the forecast.

The snow started around noon, as we were checking out from the grocery store.  The rain that had been gently falling, thickened and started to fall in icy chunks.  By the time we got on the highway, it was snowing heavily.

"Mom, it's fall and winter all at once!" Bud marveled as we watched snow fall past gold and orange leaves.  It was beautiful, one of the more gorgeous  snowfalls I've ever seen.

Because of the snow, there was brief conversation of how it looked like Christmas, but they opted not to skip Halloween!

We got home and headed straight for the yard.  I kept marveling at the anomaly of snow on leafy trees, on Halloween decorations, on us in October!  The kids managed to scoop up the heavy snow into balls.  "You're toast!" they yelled, pummeling me with snowballs.  Neighbor Boy came over for a bit and had a snowball fight with them.  Mama and I tried to capture the beauty in photographs, but I'm not sure I could encapsulate it.

While we were inside drinking hot chocolate and decorating our Halloween gingerbread houses, we noticed that part of our lovely silver maple had succumbed to the heavy snow--a 25' limb missed hitting our neighbor's house by inches!  The kids were upset to see such a chunk of the tree broken; we hope the rest of it is okay.  Luckily, our squirrels' home is in a knot in another branch--they were scampering in and out later, probably not as surprised by the snow as we were (they've been running around for days but are not as chunky as they usually are by the first snow).

Now it's darkening and the snow is slowing, though the weather warnings say it will go well into the night, with lots of power outages and damages from fully-leafed trees covered in gloppy snow.  When the wind blows, huge chunks of wet snow, akin to Sis and Bud's snowballs, hit the house and deck with a thud.  Mama Teacher's cars barely escaped damage from a falling branch.  And we'll be lucky if we don't lose power (and thus heat--it's oil but the heater is electric).

But we probably got our Christmas card pictures of the kids in snow next to our pumpkins!

(Pictures soon!)

In the Bag

Getting ready for our five upcoming Halloween events by updating our trick-or-treat bags (not the best pictures--can't rotate them, had to photograph so their names wouldn't show, with low artificial rainy-day light!  You get the idea, which, by the way, I came up with independently--Martha copied me!!).
Sis's:




Bud's:

Halloween Fun 2010: The Finale

The orange-and-black boxes are almost completely backed, save the ghost we haven't unhooked from its spot on our porch or the wreath on the door. Otherwise, most vestiges of Halloween are gone. Well, except the two buckets of candy into which the kids occasionally dip.

And the jack o'lanterns.

Sis's is outside, happy fodder for the local wildlife, mainly brave squirrels who have already dragged off the lid and are making a mess of the remaining pumpkin.

But Bud's is on the porch, with a few pockmarks from marauding squirrels. We had (I thought) prepared him for the inevitability of the squirrels and how it was actually a nice thing to let them graze on the squash instead of tossing it in the trash. But he was distressed by the half-eaten eyes and couldn't bear any more rodent vandalism, weepily grabbing up the pumpkin that he had lovingly and carefully designed and carved and placing it safely on the porch.

Where it still sits.

I guess we're going to have to sneak it away sometime this week. Before it rots all on its own, which will be similarly depressing.

Halloween Fun 2010: Halloween (At Last!)

After more than a week of celebrations, it was finally Halloween last night.

And we almost missed it!

See, after church, we had lunch, played with the neighbor boy (more on that next!), and then carved pumpkins. Bud and Sis had chosen their own pumpkins last week and got to carve them this week. They each designed the faces, helped sketch it in crayon on the pumpkins, were grossed out by removing the seeds and strings (though Sis did all of hers all by herself!), and then actually got to use the little serrated saw to cut the incisions (child-friendly saw with lots of adult supervision). They were so proud.

We had a Star Wars rest time and realized at 5 pm that we needed to eat dinner before "tricker treating" at 5:45 with said neighbor boy and friends. Oops, too much rest. Mama rushed to pick up burgers and we raced to locate warm underthings to wear with the costumes, as we were under a freeze warning for the night and it was windy. We packed water and flashlights in a backpack that would also be used to carry the candy that no longer fit in the pumpkins and raced at the door, barely taking pictures. Thankfully, Gommie let us call her on Skype later, after we'd gone tricker treating. I did manage the safety talk, mainly about watching for cars, since I've read in several places that poisoned candy is mainly an urban legend (or in-family, as it was when a man tried to kill his son with a Pixie Stix when I was a kid. We were not allowed to have those for years) and that child molestations are no more frequent on Halloween than any other day. Still, I doubt we'll be letting them out alone anytime soon . . . and we still check the candy.

And what fun we had! The kids are getting good--not shy at all--about accosting strangers for treats! Though, at several houses, ours included, there was only a bucket outside from which to grab some candy--because now, both parents go tricker treating unlike when and where I was a kid. I did return to the house when the kids' itinerary took them up hills, which are still too much for me to manage comfortably. And I enjoyed passing out some candy (and lying on the couch in between!). With 360 lollipops in the bag Mama bought, I urged everyone to take large handfuls. But we still have a ton leftover. Which I'm hoping to send to the troops once I find an address.

The kids were done tricker treating with their friends--Sis's favorite girl, Cleopatra, in flip-flops!, the neighbor boy as Darth Vader (luckily, he and Obi never got into it), and a few other miscellaneous current tv or video characters I didn't recognize--by about 7:30 and came home to examine literally pounds and pounds of candy. They traded back some of it for tickets, mostly the stuff with peanuts, which we then recycled in our own candy basket out on the front steps. We saw Gommie and Pop on the computer, talked to Ma and Gong, Goo, and wished Aunt Banana, busy at work, "happy Halloween." They ate a few pieces of candy, hopped around jovially, and crashed in bed by 8:30 something.

Whew. Thank heavens it's finally November!

Except Sis is ready to start celebrating Thanksgiving today . . . .

Halloween Fun 2010: Mischief Night

It's a custom up here in Connecticut, and apparently throughout the northeast, to wreak havoc the night before Halloween, known as "Mischief Night." Though, having lived up here for several years, I would have never known it was a special evening . . . no evidence of mischief has every appeared.

This year we made our own mischief on Saturday night, celebrating Halloween, yet again, at church with a potluck and a mummy-wrapping game. There were cupcakes galore and lots of little ones in costume. Bud was dressed as Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom we called "Obi" all weekend, and Sis went as a lady knight instead of a firefighter, vacillating between those two costumes. They mainly ran around with their friends, wishing, I think, that there were more organized games. Bud did play skittles several times, which involved spinning a top with a string to knock over several standing begs in different chambers of a huge game box. He really enjoyed that, once he got the hang of it with Mama's help.

I had kinda hoped people would dress up in costumes on Sunday for church, but even UUs think that is too much, I guess. I wore my orange jack o'lantern t-shirt but that was about it. Though, one of the congregants did bring his Darth Vader mask, much to Bud's excitement. So, I handed him my 'droid so he could use the lightsaber program; he ended up trying on the mask but declaring it too hot. Sis and Bud learned about Samhain (pronounced "saw-wain") and made brown sugar butter to serve with bread during coffee hour. I had hoped to spend some time commemorating those in our lives who have died but we got all wrapped up in candy and pumpkins and costumes that I forgot.

Maybe today, which would be fitting on All Saints Day, I think.