halloween 2005

Tonight I was visited by 2 ghosts the Grim Reaper, a solder, a bumble bee, Robin, Darth Vader, Cat Woman, 2 vampires, 2 witches, a princes, a boxer, a lion, a bunch of young teenagers dressed as teenagers (the scariest costumes by far), Buzz Light-year, Spider Man, a GREAT dragon, a pumpkin, a few pirates and two power rangers.

Halloween is a holiday that started out as the Celtic festival Samhain which dealt with the dead. After the Celts were conquered by Rome Samhain blended with the Roman festivals Feralia, commemorating the dead, and one that honored Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. With the rise of Christianity the festival of the dead became all saints day from wince the name All-hallows (all saints) and All-hallows eve and with time Halloween.

In the United States on Halloween we send our children to stranger’s houses with instructions to threaten these stranger’s by saying “trick or treat”, implying that if no treat is given a trick will be played. Now the pumpkin in the stroller doesn’t seem to be much threat but the grim reaper and the teenagers dressed as teenagers would cause anyone to think twice about holding back. I dutifully handed out my treats, making sure I addressed each and ever costume and I enjoyed every minute of it. I hope I appeased the trick or treaters and find no eggs on my house and no toilet paper in my trees. I cant wait for next year

daylight saving time, day two

Daylight Saving Time was first suggested by Benjamin Franklin in 1784, in an essay, "An Economical Project." The idea was first advocated seriously by London builder William Willett (1857-1915) in the pamphlet, “Waste of Daylight” (1907). Daylight Saving Time has been used in the U.S. and in many European countries since World War I. It was adopted at that time to conserve fuel needed to produce electric power. Today we continue the practice of adjusting our clocks to the season and I guess with the cost of fuel these days it continues to “make sense” but as I laid in my bed at 4am looking at the red display on my alarm clock it did not seem like that great an ideal. It will be a month before I shake off the early morning awakening. The dogs are oblivious to the change. Their noses were on the side of my bed as soon as they heard me stir. The girl dog, Trip whimpered for her morning meal at what is her normal time to eat, 20 minutes after I awake. It’s hard to tell her that it’s now 5am not 6am. Well I’m off to continue my day. I will purposefully stay awake longer tonight and allow myself no naps during the day. By April my internal clock will be firmly set to Eastern Standard Time.

Afternoon looking towards Nags Head

nice end to a nice day

outer banks fall

Yesterday was wet and cool. I had to wear shoes and a light jacket; no long paints till I have no other choice!! I love this type of weather. To me it is so much more interesting than a sunny calm day. There is no way to photograph the layers of clouds as they move independently of each other, or the feel of a biting wind and tiny drops of rain as it hits the skin. It’s just so invigorating!

I took photos of folks fishing from a bridge on the causeway to Manteo. They were bundled against the elements but they were out there. Weather does not stop a determined sportsperson!!

Today the wind is to continue but the sun will be out. That old sun completely changes the ambiance.

hitting the floor running

This past few weeks has given me a full understanding of the term hitting the floor running. This is the first time in some time that I have had more than a very few moments to sit down and write. Mom had her bypass surgery this past Wednesday and with pre-op testing and surprise last minute Dr. appointments she has kept me busy. As of 5am today she was doing very well.
I have also been busy helping my Albanian neighbor prepare to move. Although she speaks very good English some folks have difficulty understanding her and she still has difficulty with some of the nuances of the English language so she is dependent on her friends to help her not get taken advantage of. Of course this is not the first friend I helped move in the past few weeks, some dear friends and neighbors of mine left for Texas the end of last month. I will dearly miss all my friends. The holidays will not be the same, we spent them together like family. Well the sun is coming up and I’m off to help a friend pack. It’s amazing how much you can get into a U-Haul

how many photos can I post at a time

lets stop at 6

this last month

*A lot has happened in the last month. There have been 3 hurricanes, Katrina and Rita affected people in my family and Ophelia brushed the area I live in. Gas went from $2.19 a gallon to $3.29 a gallon and back down to $2.89. (Oil company profits by the way don’t seem to have been affected in a negative way by the storms). The Supreme Court justice died and a new one was confirmed in his place. President Bush apologized for something (!!). My mother was found to have blocked coronary arteries and scheduled to have a 5 vessel bypass, and just to add a little sunshine, my youngest son advanced from a yellow belt in tae-kwon-do to a yellow with 2 green stripes belt. So I took a 3 day trip to the mountains.

bunnies and apples

A rabbit greated me at my camper and the apples made me want to make pie!

*This Wednesday I escaped the Outer Banks and went to the VA mountains. I spent Thursday in Floyd enjoying the company of friends. We had a long lunch at the natural food store after which we strolled the building looking at the work of local artists. Then we drove around the country side. Friday morning before I left for home I strolled the road from my friend’s home to my camper taking in the beauty of the area. Sometimes just a brief change of scenery is all it takes to clear the head.

Geese

*Its fall here on the Outer Banks, the air is cool in the morning, the call of geese and their V formation are sure sign of a change in the seasons. Looking up one can see northern geese that are flying south, they stop in our marshes and water ways to rest and feed. They will be joined by other types of migrating birds as the season progresses. The Outer Banks is an important stop for these travelers.

In the fall the air becomes more still, and as the summer populations (human and nonhuman) departs there is a return to quiet, as the fall progresses into winter this quiet will become deeper to the point where sometime in February we on the Outer Banks start looking forward to the return of the noise but for now the quiet is welcome