This one should have been posted yesterday.
I got up early to go to the dentist’s this morning, for the next stage of the dental implant work that seems to have been going on all year, ever since I fell over my feet while out running and messed up a crown. Only two more appointments to go!
The dentist’s waiting room was decorated with witches hats hanging from the ceiling. Rather an odd style of decor, even if you do hope that the dentist can work some kind of magic. But of course it’s just early Hallowe’en decoration, isn’t it. It’s not witchery time until the very end of October and we’re not at the end of September yet! i have, however, noticed shop windows decorated with pumpkins and the odd nudge towards more detailed Hallowe’en decor. I suppose that of you are going to spend money on fancy decorations then you really want them to be around for a while. I wonder if they are selling ‘huesos de santos’ -saint’s bones in the bakeries and cake shops of Spain yet.
Mind you, they have to deal with the castañada before Hallowe’en, which is really an American import superimposed on Samhain, the festival of the winter soltice. The castañada, also known as Magusto, Magosto, Magosta, Castanyada, or Festa da castanha is a traditional festival in the Iberian Peninsula. It is popular in Portugal, Galicia and some areas of northern Spain, such as Cantabria, Asturias, Catalonia, and the provinces of León, Zamora and Salamanca and Cáceres, but also in some parts of the Canary Islands. The festival is also celebrated in both sides of the French-Spanish border.
Unlike the horse chestnuts of the World Conker Championships, these are sweet chestnuts that are being celebrated. Once when I accompanied a group of A-Level Spanish students on an exchange visit to A Coruña they were astounded to find that lessons were cancelled one morning so that chestnuts could be roasted and eaten in the schoolyard! A very healthy option in my opinion.
Travelling back from the dentist’s I stopped off at Sainsbury’s in the centre of Oldham - they stock certain items that our local Tesco does not have. There I saw shelves full to the top with tins of chocolates of every kind. More alarming though was the presence of mince pies and panettone and Christmas pudding on the shelves.
Hallowe’en has not yet come and gone but the countdown to Christmas has already started - we’ve already passed the 100 Days To Go stage. However, I have yet to see Christmas cake and it is really too early for Christmas trees … apart from artificial ones.
In the wider world, away from fairies (once regarded as wicked but now mostly sweet and pretty) and witches and glitter and glamour, the madness continues.
The United Nations General Assembly has been going on in New York. The Israel - Gaza situation is a big feature as more and more countries declare their recognition of the Palestinian State. There is still talk about the two-state solution even though much of the territory that should be recognised as Palestine is already busily taken over by Israeli settlers!
There have been comical moments. Here’s a comment from the NewsThump people!
“It's been very funny watching the MAGA crowd claim "conspiracy!" when Trump's escalator failed at the UN, only for it to now be revealed that a videographer from the US delegation went up the escalator backwards while filming Trump's arrival, and they triggered the safety mechanism at the top of the escalator by not stepping off as they would have done if facing the right way...
It's like a real-time clown show.
Now we await confirmation that his teleprompter was actually under the control of US officials when it failed. It's only a matter of time...”
The escalator thing has been confirmed. The teleprompter is still under examination.
And Mr Trump’s speech appears to have been a bit odd, to say the least.
He seems to have told other countries’ leaders that they are simple wrong to allow immigration of any kind to continue;
All the talk about climate change is “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”;
As regards Ukraine and Russia, posted on Truth Social that Ukraine could “WIN it all back.”
And then there’s a plot to stop escalators and teleprompters from working for him! And nobody congratulated him for “ending seven wars.”
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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