My workload has increased; registration for the Spring semester just started, and my advisement duties are keeping me hopping. Plus, it is about the midpoint of the semester, so there is always a lot of student assessment/feedback. I do like working directly with students, though. Next week, after my sister is back from a trip to Ireland, I am going to finish, post and link to a page about Annie McSpirit Handmade Soap.

Tuesday Too (on Wednesday, again)

1.) What did you think was on the "other side" as a little kid, and how is it different from what you think is "there" today? (Thank you Leah and Gina [me!] :-)

I don't remember focusing on it that much as a kid. Certainly the concept was there in the readings at Mass, and of course I knew people, and animals, that died, but it wasn't until I was a teenager that the question really captured my attention. At that time, I read a lot on the subject: Elisabeth Kubler-Ross books (On Death and Dying), and some popular works, for instance Life After Life and The Evidence for Life After Death. I found a lot of comfort in that reading.

My grandmother and I talked a great deal about the topic. She promised she would let me know someday, as it was likely I would outlive her. The summer after she died nine years ago, I felt the world was different; somehow less colorful. Oh, the grass was green and the sky was blue, but it wasn't the same shade or brightness or something. Then one night I had a dream. She was sitting there, as always, at the little table in her kitchen, but her mobile home had been transported to a stunning hillside, surrounded by hay and Christmas-tree sized spruce trees. We had tea. She was OK. I felt better afterwards, though I still think of her, and miss her, a lot.

A few years ago a friend gave me a book called Embraced by the Light. I hope it is like that account. I have written something a bit more elaborate on the topic, and it is posted on my website. It is a short personal essay, called "Compost Pile" (it is a PDF file).

2.) What's your mood today? Do you believe in the power of mood rings?

I am busy, a little tired (we went to a Herbie Hancock concert last night), but generally in a good mood today. I had a mood ring in the seventies (and I still have it in my old ballerina jewelry box that plays Around the World in Eighty Days) but I was never much impressed with them. So they are back in again? Has the technology improved?

3.) Describe your absolute favorite Halloween costume? Did you play tricks on people, even when they gave you a treat?

About the costume, I rarely get dressed up any more, and when I do, it is pretty last minute and lame; last year, I was "taping is hell" and Bob was "painting is hell," or maybe that was vice-versa. We wore spackling knives and paint brushes on rope around our necks and headbands of plush devil horns. I am not sure about a favorite, but I am going to post some old pictures here and those will suffice for an answer. About playing tricks, generally I just collected as much candy as possible, but there were a couple of halloweens when I went out with a pack of kids, including one of my brothers, and we did throw stuff like tomatoes and toilet paper some bushes, etc. I wasn't really the lead participant, I was more of a witness to others in the pack. We didn't do anything super destructive, although if someone toilet papered my trees now, I would probably be mad.

I am saving my story about Halloween 1966 for tomorrow, but here are the pics:



This is halloween 1971. My mother sewed the dress and hat for me; the basket was from being flower girl in my brother's wedding.



This is halloween 1978. We won second place in our dorm's party! (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs won first.)



This must be about halloween 1987, although I am not 100% sure. This could be Bob's favorite costume.



This is also about 1978. I am not certain this was taken precisely at halloween, but it is a great costume photo anyway. (No, these aren't the tomatoes we threw.)