Bonfires

 Halloween time.  Harvest.  The leaves are turning color as they die and wither.

This weekend was travel and experience.  Friday night, I drove five hours to southern Delaware.  Ended up in a crappy hotel in Lewes, and went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and to watch a bit of Game one of the World Series (go Phils!).  My older brother (OB) joined me at my invitation for a bit.  We were polite to each other.

We were both in southern Delaware for related reasons.  Saturday, right around noon, both of us, my Wife and Daughter, and OB's wife (and hyperactive dog) met at my Dad's place.  The Penn State-Ohio State game was coming on, but that's not why we were there.  We'd come together to scatter the majority of Mum's ashes over the water of Indian River Bay, thus fulfilling part of her post-mortem wishes.  

Dad wanted to save some of the ashes, so I took a sandwich bag, and, with his help, scooped some of the ashes into it.  With its seal, this would keep them from spilling.  We then put the bag into one of mum's favorite little chests (she kept so many), and I inserted the small metal ID cremation tag to the side of it.  Then, we all went outside to the end of the pier.  There was a slight breeze.  I carried the bag with mum's ashes, and when he was ready, dad took the bag, said a few words, and spread the ashes over the water.  I took some time to reflect as the wind and water carried the ashes away.  

Back inside, Dad, Wife, Daughter and I sat and watched some of the Penn State game while dad's dog tried to chew off my foot.  Dad had two tv's going- one in the kitchen, where he normally sits, and the big one in the living room.  That TV, despite being cable, kept showing lines and signs of interference.  Dad said he didn't know why.

I do.  Mum was there with us.  it was a rare moment when both her kids (or her granddaughter) were in the house, and so she wanted to be there.  At one point, I went into the kitchen and that small tv started doing the same thing.  I spoke quietly to her, letting her know that I knew she was there, and that I missed her.

Dad found another of mum's jewelry boxes in a closet- the one I remember from when I was a kid.  My sister in law, Daughter, and I looked through it.  From it, I took a clan hat pin.  I'll come back to that.

Eventually, it was time to go.  I dropped Wife and Daughter back at her car (they drove down separately, and we met in Lewes), and started my long journey back to State College.  It was midafternoon, and I listened to Penn State lose on the radio, then to other music as I drove north then northwest as the sun set.  

As twilight and gloaming set in, I was in the farmlands of north Delaware, southern Pennsylvania, and Amish country.  I noticed that often the countryside was cloudy- hazy- smoky.  Then I saw them.  Bonfires.  Here and there in the fields, bonfires were springing up, small and large.  People were preparing for their Halloween parties.  After all, with Halloween being Monday, the parties would be Saturday night (assuming that the local covens wouldn't have their Samhain fires easily seen from the highway.)   

I thought of the fun the idea of the parties implied, and the menace that the Halloween bonfires originally were intended to ward off.  The idea of people partying and dancing in costumes as the bonfire warded off the chill and the evil spirits.  The magic of fellowship and spirits liquid and ethereal.  What spells and connections would be forged as strangers like myself sped by in the night?  

Fires leave ashes and memories, and may be scattered on wind and water.  Or forgotten as love.

I arrived back at State College around 8, long after the night settled.  Many RVs were still in the tailgating areas, and yes, small fires burned in the night.  My back hurt from the drive as I settled on the couch with the pin I took and my old tam.  I bought the tam back in 1990 at some Scottish games.  It's the colors of my clan: MacIntosh.  I rarely wear it today, but keep it on the hat stand in case I want to.  I attached mum's pin to it, so now it's a proper tam.

In any case, Happy Halloween and Blessed Samhain.  May it be safe, and your bonfire keep you warm.