BOO!

I think the idiots that wrote my horoscope for today listened in on my conversations with E and BR last night...
Just as you begin to see the truth dawning, it slips away as if it isn't ready to reveal itself yet. There are serious discussions that need to take place first. Steer clear of the land mines buried around your conversations that might trigger issues about control and power. Listen to your instincts before expressing your heart.

Anyway. I thought I'd give another history lesson. Three guesses on the topic and the first two don't count.

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter. To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.

There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls. ~George Carlin

Random Updates

I really have a lot on my mind this morning so please excuse any rambling that sure to occur. Currently, I'm watching the third snowfall for October alone. It's going to be one wet winter. Love watching it fall, from the warmth and comfort of my home. It took me 30 minutes to make a 10 minute commute this morning. Oh well. It's still beautiful out there, and here in Colorado it will be gone in 2 days.
Next item would be that I haven't mentioned our new family member yet. BR and I got a puppy Friday night before he left. She is a 6 week old black lab. I named her Jewel. He wanted a companion while he was up there so a friend gave us this adorable little girl. She really is precious.
What else is new? Oh yeah, A took the condo off the market last week. She wants to finish the upgrades before it sells, and the market is really bad for selling now anyway. Plus the office didn't sell. So that means when Dr gets back next week we are going to start our plan for closing by the end of the year. It's really kind of sad. He is a terrific Dr and boss. Just not a very good businessman.
What's my plan after that you ask? (Or not, whatever.) Well, I'm probably moving to WY after the first of the year. No laughing. BR has expressed to A his intent to marry me. Not really news to me, he and I have discussed it. Anything can happen in 2 months, but right now that's the thought. (I think.)
Honestly, I do have more that I would like to get off my chest. Until I can decide how to phrase it, it will have to wait. Just know that you're doing the exact same thing I did weeks ago!
Final note... As a kid I used to collect quotes in a notebook. I love quoting movies, music, books, and people. Of coarse in the end you're always quoting someone. Anyway from now on I'm leaving one at the end of every post. You never know it can make you think, smile, or nothing at all.

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi (1893 - 1986), in Irving Good, The Scientist Speculates (1962)

Still here

I apologize for being remiss with my blog lately. It's been a rough couple of weeks. BR came back unexpectedly a few weeks ago. He had planned on a weekend visit, but then something happened. There was a terrible accident at the job site and he was the only witness to a man getting crushed to death by a bulldozer. A few days after that the man driving the dozer killed himself. He was a very good friends of BR's. It's been two weeks of anxiety attacks, nightmares, counseling, and lots of tears. He goes back to Wyoming tomorrow. I, of coarse, am very concerned. I am staying here because he doesn't want me there yet. Plus I had a talk with Dr about my job and the selling of the practice. He informed me that if it doesn't sell by the end of October then he's going to close it by the end of the year. So I promised him that I would stick by it till then. BR said he would know by then what's going on and either come back here or move me up there. I'm really not sure how I feel about any of this. I don't want BR going back because he told me himself there have been nights he wouldn't have made it through if I weren't there. He doesn't have the support up there, and he's going to have to face it all there. My mind is very uncertain about a lot of things, and I just don't know.

Superstitious

FRIDAY
A bed changed on Friday will bring bad dreams.
Any ship that sails on Friday will have bad luck.
You should never start a trip on Friday or you will meet misfortune.
Never start to make a garment on Friday unless you can finish it the same day.
FRIDAY THE 13TH
fear of Friday the 13th is rooted in ancient, separate bad-luck associations with the number 13 and the day Friday. The two unlucky entities combine to make one super unlucky day.
There is a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at Valhalla, their heaven. In walked the uninvited 13th guest, the mischievous Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Balder died and the Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned.
There is a Biblical reference to the unlucky number 13. Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th guest to the Last Supper.
A particularly bad Friday the 13th occurred in the middle ages. On a Friday the 13th in 1306, King Philip of France arrested the revered Knights Templar and began torturing them, marking the occasion as a day of evil.
In ancient Rome, witches reportedly gathered in groups of 12. The 13th was believed to be the devil.
Both Friday and the number 13 were once closely associated with capital punishment. In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the noose.
It is traditionally believed that Eve tempted Adam with the apple on a Friday. Tradition also has it that the Flood in the Bible, the confusion at the Tower of Babel, and the death of Jesus Christ all took place on Friday.
Numerologists consider 12 a "complete" number. There are 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus. In exceeding 12 by 1, 13's association with bad luck has to do with just being a little beyond completeness.
FRIDAY THE 13TH
More than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor.
Many airports skip the 13th gate.
Airplanes have no 13th aisle.
Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.
Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery.
On streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half.
Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue
In France, socialites known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14th guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.
Many triskaidekaphobes, as those who fear the unlucky integer are known, point to the ill-fated mission to the moon, Apollo 13.
If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck . Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names.