Sunday 31 October 2010

The Beginning of Winter Cheer

I'm afraid the interlude has not been as brief as expected.  Every time we think we have sorted out the care for my relative another problem arises, so I may only be posting here intermittently for the foreseeable future.

Today I was wondering what you might be celebrating, Hallowe'en, Samhain, the Celtic New Year or Divali, the Hindu festival of lights, and how you celebrated.  I'm not sure about Hallowe'en, although I had fun 'trick or treating'  as a child in Canada.  The idea of Hallowe'en seems to originate from when the early church decided to put a Christian spin on Samhain, which the ancient Celts believed was a time when the barrier between those alive on Earth and those no longer alive was at it's thinnest as well as marking the very end of Summer and the beginning of Winter and the short dark days to come.  Divali seems to be at least partly a reminder that darkness has not won the day and we will see the sun again.

Everyone seems to agree we need some light and cheer in our lives just now, so I think we shall enjoy some candlelight during and/or after dinner tonight.   As we live at the top of a hill we don't tend to get any children knocking on our door.