2006 was one of the best Halloweens in recent years.Not only was it the first Halloween in too many years that Bernie was actually home in the evening, but also, we somehow managed to be given the time to carve pumpkins, that is, Alex and Lil and I.
I reprised my cat design -- I'd tried it on a pumpkin last week for the cover story 23 Oct 06 in the Piker Press, but not having carved a pumpkin in more years than I care to admit, I foolishly chose a pumpkin that was already overripe. It carved easily, melted in a few hours, and stunk up the kitchen to boot. This pumpkin was nicely crispy, though much tougher to cut.
Alex got home from work while I was still carving, started playing with the drill bit I'd used for the cat's eyes, and ended up with a lovely Octopus. Lillian was content to watch and offer helpful observations ... after she encountered the stickiness of pumpkin innards. Ah, she's definitely my granddaughter. Stickiphobia must be genetic.
It was still light outside when we finished the pumpkins, so Alex and Lil went to the driveway (which I had hosed down earlier in the day to clear away the almond harvest dust) with a tub of chalk.
Halloween, All Saints Day, and Dia de los Muertos end October and begin November. We like to remember that the dead are still with us, still family, still friends, still loved, and so we draw calacas for passers-by to see, hoping that they'll ask us what that's all about. This is a broad view of part of the driveway (with Howie in the way). Probably more of the drawings will surface in the Press sometime this month.We had lots of trick -or -treaters, but none quite so cute as You Know Who. Face paint and photo are by Alex, but the expression was aimed at yours truly. Lil always does best with an audience.
In all, it was a wonderful day, and the best bit was sitting with Bernie in the driveway, surrounded by the calacas, a fire burning in a chiminea by our feet. We sipped wine, and talked about life and death, the universe and everything, and how much we love each other.Best Halloween in a long time.
4 comments:
You guys are so cool. I want to come play at your house.
Renew a campaign to move to California!
That is a great set of pumpkins! And you did use drills. Wow, I just use those stupid half plastic half metal carving kits and a wickedly sharp knife.
Yes, Cheryl needs to move to California.
Lydia
One wood drill bit, used by hand, no drill itself. I splurged on an X-acto blade for wood carving ($3) and a craft coping saw.
The coping saw was nigh on to worthless, but the X-acto was nice for finishing touches. The item that got the most use was a medium-sized chopping knife from the kitchen.
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