Visiting All Hollows Eve...

Not sure if I ever blogged about this before, but here's what Wikipedia has to say:  "Halloween, Hallowe'en, less commonly as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve, is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It is at the beginning of the observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed. In popular culture, the day has become a celebration of horror, being associated with the macabre and supernatural. One theory holds that many Halloween traditions were influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain, which are believed to have pagan roots. Some go further and suggest that Samhain may have been Christianized as All Hallow's Day, along with its eve, by the early Church. Other academics believe Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday, being the vigil of All Hallow's Day. Celebrated in Scotland and Ireland for centuries, Scottish and Irish immigrants took many Halloween customs to North America in the 19th century, and then through American influence various Halloween customs spread to other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century."

So all the former reverence for saints and martyrs is now an opportunity to sell cheap plastic decorations, bizarre costumes, and scam your neighbors for free candy. That likely fits in with most American holidays. Saw on a cycle blog that they even sell plastic ghouls riding fake motorcycles. 

Now that's not a very scary image, but this might be:

Could be me heading home on the Hot Springs Road after a late night ride.

Then there's the politicians costumes; tRump dressing up as a McDonalds worker, dispensing fries to fake customers or a garbage man, riding in a way too clean truck.

Apparently he was barely able to climb up into the cab. Of course the garbage wasn't in the back of the truck, it's what he says in his rally speeches. As for Kamala, she seems to be wearing a lot of pants suits lately, but that outfit didn't work out so well for Hillary, did it? Maybe she needs to adopt a more low-key, Tim Walz farmer-style garb?

Anyway, the real trick or treat will come on election day when all this political hype finally ends and we can either celebrate or drown our sorrows in a few too many vodkas.

Storm of the Century, Part ?

 In the last ten years or so, we've had at least three storms that seemed to qualify as a "storm of the century." Wind, lot's of snow and rain alternating with near freezing temps; so now it looks like we've got another one.

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

National Weather Service Fairbanks AK   140 PM AKDT Mon Oct 21 2024.  

Fairbanks Metro Area-Nenana-Including Eielson AFB, Salcha, Moose Creek, Harding Lake, Two Rivers, Chena Hot Springs Road from MP 12 to MP 34, Fairbanks, Fort Wainwright, Ester, North Pole, Fox, Nenana, and The Parks Highway from MP 290 to 325.            

WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM TUESDAY...

* WHAT...Heavy snowfall is expected. Additional snow accumulations of 5 to 10 inches possible. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph.

* WHERE...Fairbanks Metro Area and Middle Tanana Valley.

* WHEN...Until 4 PM AKDT Tuesday.

* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible.

Here's the culprit...

Here's what it looked like this afternoon...

Half a foot of snow fell overnight followed by rain all afternoon.

Looks like lot's of shoveling and plowing tomorrow.

Last Bike Ride...

 With the past week of fifty degree weather, at least in the afternoons, this week was decent bike riding weather, so was able to get out twice..

Autumn is pretty much over, the leaves have lost their color and are mostly gone. But at least the low angle sun provides a little warmth and some interesting shadows.

With the forecast for mixed rain and snow with temps in the mid to upper thirties, I suspect this past week may have been the last rides of the season.