Happy Halloween!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Halloween! It's raining here in Santa Cruz, but I've heard rumors that the rain will stop long enough for trick-or-treaters, so I remain hopeful.

Have fun!

Estelle Reiner (Rob Reiner's mother)

Rob Reiner's mother died over the weekend. She uttered what many have called "the most famous line in cinematic history" in When Harry Met Sally. I had no idea she helped found Another Mother for Peace. She also had a career as a jazz singer, starting at age 65!

I love hearing stories like this. It defies the myth that there's some sort of deadline hovering out there to do the things one wants to do in life, and if you haven't done them by a certain age, forget it.

It's about to rain and so I have to go bring in the firewood before it gets soaked. I'm grateful this Fall for little things--enough dry firewood to last for most of the winter; finding a gorgeous purple witch hat spangled with glittery bats and spiderwebs (I've got a purple witch costume planned for tomorrow); getting ideas for stories and poems again.

So,

Halloween's On Its Way!

I have to admit that the Strega household is less decorated this year than it used to be. In general, Halloween is a wonderful holiday for me, with only a few not-so-great memories associated with it. However, this year, I--along with a few friends and relatives--will scatter the flowers from my sister's funeral on Halloween. I took home all the flower arrangements in July and dried them on my back deck; I'm going to bundle them this week. So far, we have not been able to get my sister's ashes from her executors, nor do we know whether they have been scattered. So, this may be the only ceremony for her of that nature, and I want to make it nice for her.

Halloween was a terrible holiday for my sister, for various reasons. This day tends to be fraught with energy of various types for many of my family members, and for me, but she had particularly bad troubles on this day and so it was fun for her, when my kids were small, to redeem the day by visiting us and doing trick-or-treating, then going to a Halloween carnival that used to be set up at the local firehouse. I decided to wait and scatter her flowers on this day to honor the holiday that seemed so emblematic of the pain and the courage with which my sister faced life.

So, I don't have my array of Halloween decorations up this year, just a few things. and am content to leave it that way. Grieving makes me want to pare things down, and treat myself very gently.

Grape Jelly

My friend (don't have a blog nickname for her yet and have to ask) has a giant grapevine from which she gave me pounds and pounds of lovely, dark purple grapes. Now what to do with all of them? We ate some, and then I told Mr. Strega that I wished to make jelly.

True to my Italian nature, I really enjoyed crushing all those grapes (in a big pot, using a potato masher). Then I strained the resulting mush overnight in a colander lined with muslin, and royal purple juice strained out all night. We then boiled the juice with a bunch of apples (to increase the pectin), and stored the results in a big pitcher.

Now my kitchen smells like burnt sugar (from boilovers) and there are purple jelly droplets everywhere, even though I've cleaned up, and I have five jars of grape jelly, three large and two small. I feel like I've linked yet again to my mother and grandmother, as we had fruit trees in the backyard where I grew up, and they canned jam and fruit all summer. Plus, my friend worked really hard to get the grapes off those vines, and I wanted to honor her hard work and also not waste anything. I wonder if the current economic times will make me like some of the folks I know who grew up in the Depression, finding a use for everything and wanting to waste nothing.

Obama in Double-Digit Lead--and Great Pic in Time

According to the latest Gallup poll, Obama is in a double digit lead over McCain. Time magazine has a terrific picture of Obama.

I hope that the Obama-Biden presidency will be the phoenix that will rise from the burnt-out husk of the Bush years. I really believe that a new day is coming. I don't want to count my chickens (or phoenixes) before they hatch, but I believe Obama is pulling ahead because people are tired...of lies, intolerance, of friends and neighbors and communities falling over the edge. It makes me proud of my fellow citizens to see Obama taking the lead in the polls. I believe good things are on their way!

I Have a New Niece!

I have a new niece (she has a gorgeous name, though I can't reveal it here, as per my policy of using aliases for my family members). My niece was born a few days ago to my youngest brother and my sister-in-law. It is such a wonderful event for our family, as we have been through so much sadness in the last year. Her birth coincided with the year's first rain here in Santa Cruz. There is a nearly 19-year age difference between her and my youngest child!

I'm nursing a strained back tonight (don't know how I did it), so I'll just keep this post short and sweet.