Ginky!
Or is it the curb-matching tree? Whichever view you take, this specimen never holds back.
Archives for posts with tag: celebrations
Laurel Grove North (Savannah, Georgia)
Today is All Souls’ Day. To some it is the Day of the Dead (“El día de los muertos” or “El día de los difuntos”). Despite the name, it is a happy, not-so-solemn occasion. As a follow-on and complement to yesterday’s All Saints’ Day, which commemorates children, this is a time to honor deceased adults.
Bonaventure Cemetery
You can tell a lot about people and their culture by learning how they bury their dead. Cemeteries fascinate me for that reason. Today is All Saints’ Day. In Mexico, November 1 is also called “El día de los inocentes” (Day of the Innocents) or “El día de los angelitos” (Day of the Little Angels) in honor of children and infants.
These little girls look like they were born and died about a year apart from one another (1860 and 1861). Fall babies who both were taken away in the Spring. Mary at 1.5 years and Emma at 4.5 months. This is one of the prettiest memorials to children I have seen. At over 150 years old, the details and legibility are outstanding.
Ascending danger.
Happy Haunting from the Moomins! Now, get your screechy, spooky, frightening scare on.
If you don’t know who the Moomin family and its quirky friends are, you’re not too old to find out! For a taste of what you’re missing, check out their crazy but meaning-laden names. If that isn’t enough, read the adventures of the hippo-resembling main characters yourself in one of Tove Jansson’s many books. It’s masterful storytelling that knows no audience age limit. Playful, offbeat creatures with a sinister streak.
To indulge, fortunately, there is no need to know Finnish. Nope, the lady’s published in over 30 languages. Here’s an image of Tove herself together with some of her adorable protagonists.
And, hats off to Oy Moomin Characters Ltd., that tightly manages the creative rights of what began as a one-woman show. Thankfully, the brand has not succumbed to being Disney-fied. It’s as magical as ever. Just ask any Japanese.
Land of the Thunder Dragon
There is more happiness in Drukville, or as the Bhutanese call their country, Druk Yul (“druk” means thunder dragon.). The royal wedding took place today, October 13, the 16th day of the 8th Bhutanese month. It is an auspicious day, a “good day to propitiate god and deities, do Chagu, learn astrology, give promotion, shift house, start new business, name places and villages, deposit wealth, meet superiors, sow seeds, plant plants and flowers.” (It is “not a good day to do charity work in the name of the deceased.”) The first of a three-day national celebration. But, don’t take my word for it. Read about the traditional religious ceremony here. To the royal couple, I send a virtual butter lamp, a khadhar offering and prayers for Their Majesties’ long-lived happiness.
As the top of the neck says, "Dive in."
I like the name, font, illustration style and how this wine introduces itself ‘round back. Reminds me of summers in Athens, GA. Green Hills Country Club, a few miles away from home, to which my neighbors and I would bike to and back, sans helmets. I take it that cannonball.com was taken, but drinkcannonball.com works. That is a command, right?
We’ve seen America in much freer, legs-tucked-under, uninhibited stances. Let’s get (back) on with those times. Happy Birthday, USA!
Technicolor Easter
This time of year reminds me of summers on my paternal grandparents’ farm. I remember keeping vigil over the conveyor belt as the eggs rolled by and into the processing center. My cousins and I helped spot the irregulars, the too bigs and the too smalls (we had them for breakfast the next day), gently placing each in its own cardboard nest, pallet after pallet. Maybe that’s how I mastered my stacking skills. A quick dip into the walk-in freezer or a swing in the hay barn, and all was well on an otherwise blistering South Georgia day. You are never too old to dye. Happy Easter!
Devign 