Usually, I upload a number of photos and the history behind the holiday, but this year, I offer you something different.
Later, if possible, I’ll post some of the costumes from the kids parade.
And from Dan Danbom
Category: Seasons
Halloween Cat, and other photos
Here is Midnight, my kitten, fast growing up. Her sister, Moonlight, is identical. I tell them apart by two things: the tiny white tuffs in Midnight’s ears, and their personalities. Moonlight would never sit still for a portrait!
That one, and the ones which follow, we’re all taken Wednesday, the day of the big storm, when the sun came out, just before sunset.
Fall weather
3:00 – the sun has come out several times this afternoon, making my solar panels happy, then the rain has come, then the sun, then the rain. What a glorious dance we are doing today. The garden is smiling!
11:00 am update – WOW! Major storm up here! Heavy, heavy downpour, thunder and lightning right on top of me. Hail, amazing. One dog, Dakota, needs Rescue Remedy, and I have none. Even I am getting nervous. This is right on top of me. Oh, the joys of living on top of a mountain! All hell broke loose for the last 20 minutes (it is 11:20), but hoping it settles down. During one simultaneous strike and thunder, I yelled, “Holy sh*#” and scared my dogs even more. Now all four need the rescue remedy – an herbal calming recipe. First storm of the season is definitely exciting!
9:00 am – Fall arrived for me yesterday, when I took my winter comforter out of storage and put it on my bed and closed all the windows. The evening chill is here.
Today, clouds cover the sky, I woke to dampness on the deck, although no rain in the gauge, and at 9 am, thunder started. It is a deep, distant rumbling. I am hoping that if it gets closer, the rain will accompany it, so we don’t have a late lightning-sparked fire. My sweater is almost enough to take the chill off … a good thing, as my wood stove is apart, getting its yearly cleaning.
Every season is my favorite, when it first begins. I have tired of the heat and wearied of the dust, and thus, welcome fall with the joy of a change.
All the dogs, who have spent their days outside for months, decided today was an indoor day. They will add heat to a slightly chilly cottage. I will be keeping my eyes on the skies, as this thunder continues, but today and tomorrow, my dwindling appellate practice needs attention. It is winding down as the days of my retirement approach. A good day to be in my office! (BTW, the thunder has kept up for the last 1/2 hour.
So, how hot is it?
It may be October 2nd, but we have been reaching record temperatures, every where … The coast is no longer my refuge. It hit 102 at Ventana Restaurant, yesterday, and 95 in the valley, at the State Park. It was over 105 up here, although I spent the day on the Peninsula, running errands. It was about the same today, although I was in Cayucos and Cambria, where it was also hot. I read that it is to cool down considerably tomorrow and the rest of the week. I would settle for it cooling down at night!
So, how hot has it been where you are?
Endeavor, Thunderbirds, Fall Equinox
What an incredible day! I drove up the coast, stopping at every turn out from 9:45-11:00, chasing the endeavor. I didn’t see it, but I realized later, it passed directly over my house! That’s magic, whether I saw it or not.
NASA photograph
I had an appointment in Salinas. When I got there, I found out that the Thunderbirds were practicing for their weekend air show. I had at least a dozen near-misses with other cars and pedestrians, as I pulled over suddenly on streets in Salinas, trying to get the shot. I didn’t. But not because I didn’t try … And almost run up the sidewalk on a pedestrian on Sherwood – the old red-light district, and current homeless section.
Thunderbird media photo.
These planes travel at speeds over 400 mph, sometimes only 2 and 1/2 feet, yes FEET, apart. These Falcon F-16s sometimes reach 7 Gs. For the first time, there is a Mom on the team. She flew fighter planes in Iraq. She wanted to be a fighter pilot at the age of 13, when she first saw the Thunderbirds. Now she is one!
Then, top it off with the Fall Equinox, and official start of fall, and it was one of those days that make me so grateful to be who and where I am. Time to add water to my solar generator – 4 times a year … So equinoxes and solstices are obvious solution. This is the subject of a future blog post. I hope your days are full of magic, too!
Memorial Day weekend, and I MUST have a fire.
Memorial Day weekend has begun. It is traditionally the start of our summer, but Mother Nature has her way with us once again. I am very glad that life got in the way of my planting my tomatoes.
Here it is only 6 pm, and it is only 40 degrees outside … Given that the sun is not even down, yet, freezing temps are possible tonight. Right now, I have built a fire in the wood stove, and am working on building it up to a rip-roaring one tonight. Tomatoes would not fare well tonight, and given the high winds, would have been dead come morning…so maybe next weekend? I guess I better concentrate on Early Girls this year!
Merry Christmas
I’m not sure my post re technical difficulties posted or not, but Internet working well, just having trouble getting photos posted, so photo contest entries as soon as I can. In the mean time, I’m going to try to post this Christmas greeting from my iPhone. Hopes this works!
Holiday Cheer
NOTE: New header photo contest underway. See information under “Notices” post above.
Happy Thanksgiving
WordPress is out of whack. I can’t get the graphic greeting from Dan Danbom to post. Regardless, may your heart be as full as your belly, and may all your thanks be hearfelt.
Blessings, bigsurkate
I am going to try to upload Dan Danbom’s Thanksgiving Day graphic one last time (I seem to have created a work-around for my internet, cellular reception problem, so at least I can continue to post – it is inserting photos which is now the problem!) If you don’t see an image … guess what didn’t work?
Happy Halloween!
Here are some free wallpapers I downloaded through my iPhone for today’s event. Granted, I should have taken my own photos of the local pumpkin patches, but I am finding that my life is so busy now, and with Halloween, the holiday season is approaching, which means even more “life” in my life!
It is a holiday I have always enjoyed, not the trick or treating as much as the story behind this event. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Saints’ Day.
Samhain is a Gaelic festival held on October 31–November 1. The Irish name Samhain is derived from Old Irish and means roughly “summer’s end”. A harvest festival with ancient roots in Celtic polytheism, it was linked to festivals held around the same time in other Celtic cultures, and continued to be celebrated in late medieval times. Due to its date it became associated with the Christian festival All Saints’ Day, and greatly influenced modern celebration of Halloween.
Many scholars believe that it was the beginning of the Celtic year. It has some elements of a festival of the dead. The Gaels believed that the border between this world and the otherworld became thin on Samhain; because some animals and plants were dying, it thus allowed the dead to reach back through the veil that separated them from the living.
(Information from Wikipedia)
For us, here in Big Sur, it means the traditional Bal Masque at Nepenthe to benefit our local Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade. It is a wonderful time with incredible costumes, so enjoy, if you have a ticket, and if not – be quicker next year!
Please be safe tonight but also enjoy the evening with friends. Bal Masque is a delightful experience. I haven’t gone in a few years, and the last year I did, I got a room at Deetjen’s which just made the experience even more delightful!