All Saints’ Day
As seems usual for this holiday, the weather is appropriate. Recent rain leaves the ground soft and damp and vaguely rotting. Smashed pumpkins and windfall apples mix with the soil and sodden leaves and form a heavy-scented mulch that says ‘autumn’ in the same doleful tones that the low angle of the light does when the sun breaks briefly through the grey woolly clouds. Despite being fairly warm, our walk to the cemetery in Solkan, near the banks of the Soča River, feels like the onset of deep fall — in fact, the warmth in the air adds to the sense of corruption.
Adam is wearing his wellies and stomps every puddle we encounter, even down to the postage-stamp-sized ones. Soon his overalls are soaked up to the knees. He eats stroopwafels through the entire long walk, dropping them more often than one might wish. At the cemetery he thinks the sea of polished granite and marble-chip gravel is a special playground set up just for him. He wants to play with the candles on every tomb, shred potted cyclamens, and dance on people’s graves.
Re project: You’re bold. I was almost shoved into the National Novel Writing Month but I resisted.
For me, the NaBloWriMo challenge would be to limit myself to one post per day.
Comment by Jagosaurus — Wednesday 1 November 06 @ 16.42 MST+2.00
Did you have the Van Morrison song bouncing around your head during your walk? Our son was born Nov. 8 (04), but part of me was wishing for an All Saints’ Day birthday, just for the song.
Good luck with the daily postings! I was tempted, but travel and company this month made it seem unrealistic. Maybe January . . .
Comment by juliloquy — Wednesday 1 November 06 @ 17.30 MST+2.00
I was going to comment on Adam’s excellent taste, because I LOVE stroopwafels. But Elmo? I just can’t.
Comment by jdog — Thursday 2 November 06 @ 08.57 MST+2.00
So did your son mess up with the candles on my grandfather’s grave? Damn it :)
Btw: beautiful picture, I can see the grave of our relatives there.
Comment by MiamiDreams — Thursday 2 November 06 @ 09.49 MST+2.00
Juliloquy: I guess if I had to ask ‘what Van Morrison song?’ the answer would be ‘no’. I had the crazy frog ringtone stuck in my head instead.
MiamiDreams: Despite his FERVENT wishes to the contrary, we saw to it that Adam did not actually get to handle any of the candles in the place, your grandfather’s included. I felt remarkably conspicuous being in the cemetery with a camera (and a destructive-minded toddler). I had to wait a long time to get a shot of a part of the cemetery with no people in it. This is the only picture I took, furtively and quickly. I’m glad you like it.
Comment by sgazzetti — Thursday 2 November 06 @ 15.08 MST+2.00
Re:blog projects… http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6048392.stm
Comment by simon — Monday 6 November 06 @ 10.30 MST+2.00