Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween / Samhain!

I've been having a hard time finding the motivation to post lately, but I did want to say something on this most important holiday. In ancient times, the Celts considered today to be Summer's End. It was the end of the light season and the beginning of the dark. It was the last harvest, when livestock were slaughtered (not sacrificed, despite popular misconception, but slaughtered for meat to eat through the Winter). It was also considered the time when the veil between the world of the living and the realm of spirits was at its thinnest. This was not a time of fear, but rather a time to honor your deceased loved ones, because they were likely to show up for a visit (so it was believed, anyway). Over the long centuries, many traditions have come together to form the modern, secular holiday of Halloween. I have fond memories (and a few bad ones, too) of going out trick-or-treating when I was a child. I loved dressing up and always got annoyed with my parents when they ruined my carefully constructed (read store-bought) costumes by making me wear a coat over them. It does get pretty cold in Michigan this time of year, I will admit. But the thing I remember most was how magical it was to walk along the tree-lined streets of the little towns, sometimes wading knee-deep in piles of leaves, seeing all the spooky houses, the moon shining down through the bare limbs of big oak trees that would creak and rustle in the sharp, biting wind of the late October night. It's something that is hard to capture now days. A sense of wonder that seems to be lost on today's tv educated, internet savvy, all too jaded youth. A pity, really. But, whether you celebrate secular Halloween or Pagan Samhain (or both), I hope you have a wonderous, magical and safe holiday.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

I Has A Hoodie!

We did some clothes shopping over the weekend, since colder weather is coming and most of my long pants are getting worn out. I hate clothes shopping, typically, but this time I did manage to find something I've been wanting for a while now. A black hoodie! It's something I can throw on at work, when my office feels like an icebox, which is most of the time. Can I help it if I am cold-blooded? I've been tempted to bring in a gigantic, flat-topped rock and a sun lamp so I can bask when my polar-bear-descended co-workers crank the AC up so much that I keep expecting to find the frozen carcass of a wooly mammoth in the breakroom. But, I think the hoodie is probably the more practical solution. It's even in my colors, since it has a white, insulated lining. I have a thing for black and white. It's the whole duality concept. Kind of like, without freezing your butt off, you can't truly appreciate slipping on a soft, comfortable hoodie and reveling in the sudden warmth. I am a virtual well-spring of philosophical ponderings. Especially when my fingers aren't frozen to the keyboard. Go hoodie!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Giant Carnivorous Armadillos!

We drove down to Alabama last Saturday to help out at an SCA event. I wasn't in a particularly good mood that day for some reason and wasn't very good company. As a result, I tended to keep to myself and not say much to anyone, which made Ysabel kind of worried about me. I told her it would be ok and not to worry, that it was just a brain chemical thing and I'd get over it. One thing that she and everyone else should worry about, however, is the fact that on the way down there we saw several dead armadillos that had been rendered roadkill by the animal-lovin' Alabama locals. And by animal-lovin', I mean they love to feel the little buggers go squish under the extra-wide tires of their tricked out pick up trucks. But, concerns about animal cruelty aside, the fact that these critters are moving out of Texas and finding their way northward is, in itself, disturbing. Why, you ask? Well, I'll tell you the same thing I told my wife*. If modern day armadillos find themselves in an environment where 1) the climate is significantly colder and 2) humans are thoughtfully weeding out the stupid ones, then what we'll end up with after several generations of natural selection is significantly bigger, smarter, armor-plated monstrosities that could seriously challenge our place in the food chain. Think about it. Getting bigger is an adaption to a colder climate and getting smarter could be an adaption to the pressures we put on them. Do we really want our children's children's children's children's children to wind up as herd animals for these potential mutants? Unlikely, you say? Well, think about the rise of humanity from tree-dwelling lion-fodder to the dominate species on the planet. I bet somewhere, millions of years ago, some big cat saw a bunch of upright monkeys waving sticks around and thought "no way those things are ever going to be a threat to *me*". Sure, pal, you just keep thinking that until you're nothing more than a wired-together display in some natural history museum being gawked at by a bunch of third-graders on a school field trip. So, let us learn from the lessons of the past and for goodness sake BEWARE THE ARMADILLOS!!

*For the record, Ysabel thought I was nuts, too.