The Halloween that took a break

Normally this weekend I would be off for a Halloween Party and Bonfire Night but like so much else this year it's been messed up being polite by the Covid Party none of us wanted so it's had to be called off.

In any event with at the time of writing this some 90 odd percentage of this district on Tier Two restrictions and my own council ward having a high rate of infections, it really would not wise to travel and stop overnight with people.

Anyway had we'd of been able to then it would of been highly likely we'd of been making Halloween Lanterns to which a tea light would of been placed inside and there would of been some sort of treasure hunt going on.

You'd of had to had been careful not to accidentally come into contact with people from the spirit world who just seem to be hanging around.

Boo!

There would of been on the Saturday night a Bonfire lit to which we'd be out dressed up for the cool nights standing near holding sparklers before the fireworks would be carefully let off illuminating the night sky in pretty colours.

Dedicated to friends who haven't been able to see for a good while.

Spooky Times

This week is spooky week and even in the crazy mixed up world we're living in right now I have noticed spooky stuff about in peoples windows, doorways and even gardens so expect batty bats and groovy ghoulies to be coming near you!

Miss Kitty was always in on the action, enjoying fun with friends and supporting friendship around the World that's why she makes a clean sweep of being with Halloween, having her own range of goodies.

Obviously this year it's a little different as "Trick And Treat" is being discouraged  due to concerns about social distancing and transmission of that virus through handing over candy although I suspect it'll carry on with people just calling round a few per-detirmined neighbours who will leave a package of candy for each child to pick up as they're waved at through the windows.

We need a bit of fun and excitement in our lives.

 

A cozy time in

I think we're well into the fall here as I can certainly feel it in the air and especially when I get up in the mornings, not quite shivering but certainly cool on my arms and hands before I go for a stroll in the fresh air.

This time of year tends to bring back memories of how we cope with the seasonal changes back then when we didn't even have central heating just block storage heaters on the landing and in living room which were supposed to store electric energy from the night and release it during the day.

Back then we had a coal fire although truthfully we did burn wood in it so we tended to play in the front room as children near by not right up against the fire with us and some of our toys on the floor while our folks and older children sat reading or watching the television.

Compared with today, we were very much more together, not in separate spaces even if we were doing different things, able to interact when needed and in more than the physical sense, in a warm setting.

That playing with on the floor with everybody else around is one of those things I miss.

Getting by in 2020

 

I don't think anyone can honestly deny this year has been extremely challenging in ways that would of seemed alien to us only a matter of days into the new year, having to think and continually rethink what were going to be doing, if we can actually still do it as everything seems to be in a never ending cycle of change.

 It's hardly surprising that we'd sooner settle for something more warmer and more straightforward that we recall from the past be it a hobby, watching reruns of tv shows or so on especially if they had positive messages about coping and getting by.

It is important to remember we have choices about how we respond to things and how that effects the person we become.

We don't have to be defined by the more negative sides of life for many of us at the minute. 

Being

This is being typed while it's very wet outside, practically too wet to be out walking far without getting drenched as much as I'd sooner be out  enjoying the fall so instead I'm listening to Elgar's Cello Concerto.

That's more what I'd sooner of been doing as we've entered October just out enjoying the tree canopies exploring on foot.

That's just me, liking to be out exploring when not being bitten by things and that may not be you.

Because I may do things differently doesn't make me any less valid, any less who and what I am from those who may not for having strong tomboyish streaks anymore than a male who has an interest in dance or gymnastics is any the less who he is because you are you. 

We own who we are, exploring how we express that as ourselves not needing anyone's or any groups  validation or approval.

To me gender equality means being treated equally regardless of gender and how you express that as you are.

We are US.

 

The end of the month

 

We've certainly had a number of days that have required umbrellas this last week as we move out of late summer and into the fall as I caught it a little while out and about trying to keep my mind away from the more worrying statements and latest rules  around this health emergency we're living through.

I've been working through some older things here that are seldom if ever used  and donating them to various charity collections not least because someone would get something out them when I'm not and also with Christmas, which sadly will be different this year I imagine, you tend to get things that need to be accommodated.

This week I've been playing a mixture of classical cds and also some new records that required cleaning when it hasn't been so great to be out aqainting myself with compositions and recordings I've always loved and that process often takes me back in time, which is good thing for me.

It might of been rainy but inside it's not like that.

Teenbeat XXVIII - More Rumer

 It's not the week most of us have been wanting to be entering looking toward current affairs but as we can't do much about that we might as well focus on what keeps us going and that for some us includes music.

The artist Rumer to whom a good number of first caught in 2010 with Seasons Of My Soul has recently returned with a album that collects fifteen superb songs by the acclaimed American songwriter Hugh Prestwood routed in Southern folklore of stories told from the heart.

Many of these songs have not been commercially recorded and the arrangements and production by Fred Mollin makes the most of them while Rumer's voice continues to remind us of late great Karen Carpenter.

The song Ghost In This House is a favourite of mine with its folksy feel.

Recommended.