Poem for the Feast of All Souls

Today is the Feast of All Souls. You might be confused--didn't we just celebrate this holiday yesterday?

No, that was All Saints. All Saints was originally designed to honor the saints, those who had been beatified. Official saints, canonized by the Pope.

All Souls Day, celebrated the day after All Saints, was designed to honor everyone else who had died.

In some traditions, All Saints Day honors all the Christian dead, and All Souls Day honors those who have died in the past year. Those of you with excellent memories of your English major days may remember that Sir Gawain left for his adventure with the Green Knight on All Souls Day. Medieval audiences would have read a lot into that date of departure. As Sir Gawain leaves, his castle-mates would have been expecting to celebrate his life the following year.

It will surprise no one to find out that these holidays have inspired me to write all kinds of poems.  Here's one, inspired by my commuting days down to Miami in the early part of this century:

All Saints Day in the Metro


We ride the train,
flickering candles in this metal pumpkin,
weary souls wishing for a vacation.

Just yesterday, we’d have worn
our Halloween costumes, a window
to the selves we might have been.

Today, hardly a trace
of that festivity remains: a smudge
of make up, a trace of hair dye.

The young man leaps up.
We fully expect a gun
to come out of his case.

Bathed in the sunset,
he plays his violin.
Serene music lifts our spirits.

No longer haunted
by our tasks left half-completed,
we settle into the ride.

The train trundles north,

past urban blight and clogged rivers,

the skeletons of new condos straining to the sky.

Halloween 2026 Report

If you came here thinking you would get a post about all the trick-or-treaters that came to our house, that is not the neighborhood we live in now.  Will our fixer-upper house have more trick-or-treaters?  Perhaps we will see in the coming years; last night we were in Arden, NC.

Our NC neighborhood has maybe 2 or 3 families with children, depending on the year.  We don't have sidewalks, and many of our driveways are not friendly and welcoming for trick-or-treaters.  

Most years, we don't even see much in the way of decorations; this year we had a few jack-o-lanterns.  My pile of pumpkins has been feeding the squirrels for weeks.

It was a fairly peaceful Halloween.  I made the bread that we use for communion (this recipe is wonderful, minus the cinnamon, for communion leavened bread).  I made a quick trip to the local library which was busy with the last day of early voting, but peaceful on the library side.

My sermon writing was frustrating.  I couldn't get it to come together, although my writing work was useful in the morning Bible study that I led on Zoom.  I put the draft aside, and this morning, I'm happy to discover that it's a perfectly acceptable sermon.

We spent much of yesterday afternoon watching the remake of Carrie.  I wasn't sure that the story could be stretched out over 8 episodes, and I was happily surprised.  I will confess that by episode 8, I was a bit weary of it all, and the twists of episode 8 didn't quite work for me.  But it was a fine way to spend Halloween, and I'm glad that the episode was more suspenseful than horror-drenched or gory.

And now, on to All Saints.  Today at Faith Lutheran in Bristol, TN, we'll construct an altar, and we'll invite people to bring photos of  lost loved ones forward.  We will light candles, by which I mean we'll turn on the battery operated candles.  It will be a day of both memory and celebration.

Humanities Halloween Party

At the end of September, as I looked at the late October events, I decided that I would like a witch hat.  I briefly thought of making one, even looking up patterns.  But I found this hat for less than ten dollars, I decided not to spend time sewing.

I wore it Tuesday, which I wrote about in this blog post, and I wore it again yesterday.  We had a Halloween party for English and Humanities majors and anyone who might be interested in our major--which is to say everyone.

I didn't take pictures of the variety of costumes that we wore.  Mine was understated:  a black skirt, purple shirt, and black sweater.  I wore my witch hat all day.

The high point of my work day was the party, and the high point of the party was the caramel apple bar:

 I had heard rumors that we would have one, and I had a vision of all of us putting sticks in apples.  Instead, we had a huge bowl of cut up apples, with a variety of toppings; the picture cuts off 6 more topping options.

We had a variety of candies, along with cookies, small cupcakes, and salty snacks.  My department chair made "frozen eyeballs" by freezing blueberries in round cubes:

She also tried to have frozen fingers, by freezing water in gloves, but that experiment was less successful.

I got to be the person who ran the trivia game.  We had 30 questions, Halloween themed, from our various Humanities classes, for example, "Which Shakespeare play has 3 witches?"  Students chose a slip of paper and if they gave the correct answer, they got an extra raffle ticket.

I am so happy to be at a school that has so many events for students outside of the classroom.  We even avoid having classes from 11-noon so that clubs can have meetings and chapel services don't compete with classes and folks can have meetings.  I am so happy to be part of a department that is willing to go to such lengths to have a festive event.

With all the dismal higher ed news coming from all parts of the U.S., I also feel profoundly grateful to be at a school that's on a good financial footing.  I know how quickly it can all change at one institution, but I continue to remain hopeful that I've found a school with longevity.

Racing, Racing, Racing

Yesterday we stopped at Coston's Orchard, my favorite orchard, to get some more apples for teaching.  Earlier this term, I got apples for my Nonfiction Writing class--it was a great way to have students write reviews--reviewing 3 different varietals of apples.  Today I'll take apples to my Composition class.

Yesterday my spouse pointed out that we drove past at least 5 orchards to get to my favorite; he is correct.  Some of those orchards are more crowded, but I really don't have a great explanation for why I go further, beyond force of habit.  All of the orchards have similar varietals, and they were all family-owned at some point--no oppressive labor practices are in evidence.

Today I'll begin my work day in my Composition class and then an office hour.  At the 11 a.m. period when most of us are free, we'll have a Halloween party for English majors.  And then I'll finish with Nonfiction writing.  It will feel like an easy day.

Hopefully I can create some of the assignments that students will work on next week.  I'm at the point in the semester where I feel a bit breathless at trying to stay a step or two ahead.  We are very close to the end of the term, which is also making me feel breathless.

I still have much writing to do this week-end:  a sermon, my Liturgy class final paper, and paperwork for internship (the next step in candidacy).  But I should be able to get it all done, even though the thought of doing it all makes me tired.  

Small Joys in Late October

I am sure I will remember some of the bigger joys of October, like the Trail of Treats event on Tuesday night, the onground intensive in mid-October, the Crumley archives banquet, and a breakfast reunion with my mom's Lexington cousins.  Let me record some smaller joys that might be forgotten.

--My wrenched knee has mostly healed itself--just a twinge here or there.

--Our Spartanburg house had no hot water, and my spouse couldn't get the pilot light re-lit.  I called the gas company, who said they would send out a tech, and there would be no charge, if we were willing to wait the 5 days until the appointment.  Yesterday, the tech called and told us it would be a $184 charge.  We said yes, since having a different professional would probably be a similar charge.

Happily, the tech came, lit the pilot light, and told us it would be no charge.

Did the tech use a special tool?  No, just one of those lighters that people use with a fireplace or a grill.  Note to self:  buy one of those if the pilot light goes out again.

--Yesterday, my energy was really sputtering.  Happily, my afternoon Nonfiction class carried me through, with their enthusiasm for the writing instructions exercise that we did (very similar to the experience in this blog post, but with fellow students attempting to follow the instructions).  One of them said, "This is so much fun."  Hurrah!

--I am also inspired by how much good writing my students are creating in their daily writing exercises.

--When I took the trash to the bin yesterday, I got a streak of paint on my shorts--boo!  Happily, it's an older pair of shorts--not so old as to be house renovation shorts, but old enough that I wouldn't wear them during a retreat.

--I'm seeing news of lots of flooding in S. Florida, with historically high King Tides.  I am so happy not to own a house in a flood zone!

--I am often in the mood for evening Halloween-themed TV, but not in the mood for anything too scary or gory--which leaves very few choices.  Last night we discovered the Hotel Transylvania franchise--we watched #2, with a very cute baby that may or may not turn out to be a vampire.  It was delightful.

--Today we will stop by an apple orchard on our way to or from S'burg.  I need apples for tomorrow's Composition class, and I'm happy to have a compelling reason to go to a local orchard before they close for the season. 

First Overnight in the Fixer-Upper

When we bought this fixer-upper house in Spartanburg back in early May, we thought we would spend the summer renovating it and move a truck load of belongings down here to be ready for a fall semester with less commuting back and forth to Arden.  It's been a slower remodel than we expected.

Last night was our first overnight here.  Last week the new mattresses were delivered, and so we were able to spend the night last night, which I really wanted to do, because I volunteered to help with a Halloween event last night that was going to last until 8:30 or 9.

I was glad I was able to do that.  It was a fun event with tables and candy and most of us in costumes. 

Here's the English and Humanities table, with me on one end and my dean on the other and the English chair in the middle.

I was grateful that I only needed to drive across town where my spouse was watching the World Series on the TV we bought yesterday morning.  We bought a much smaller one than most people are buying, based on what the options are--what huge flatscreen televisions are the norm now!

We discovered that the light on the pole in the backyard does work.  We've been paying a separate $10 a month charge on our electric bill for "outdoor light"; I thought it was probably that light, but I wasn't sure.  Do we want to keep it?  It lights up the whole back yard, but also the back half of the house, even with blinds closed.

Because of the light, my spouse was able to see two deer come up from the small creek/wooded area up through the back yard.  I tried, but since I was sleeping, I wasn't fast enough.

I'm happy to report that the king size mattress gave me a good night's sleep--good for the first night in a new place.  And I'm ready to finish the quilt that will be on the bed full-time; I waited to finish the edges until I was sure it was big enough.

It will surprise few people who know me that I had made the quilt too big.  I took off a row of big squares from the side of the bed that you can see in the picture.

Soon I will go for a walk in the new-to-me neighborhood.  And later, instead of leaving 90 minutes early for my commute, I will only budget a 20 minute commute--a foretaste of what I hope will be the norm for my spring semester.

Lingering Light in Late Autumn

Last night was a perfect night for an outdoor gathering at one of our local breweries, Appalachian Mountain Brewery in Mills River.  We were there a month ago, and half of us spent a good part of the night squinting into the setting sun.  Last night, we sat at a different table and didn't have that problem.

We chose that brewery because they have a full kitchen.  Last night I had an amazing salad with steak on it, much better than last time's felafel.  Both times I got fries, and both times, they were amazing.

Driving home, the moon rose over the mountain range, full and huge.  Even if I had a different camera, I doubt I could have captured the full impact.

It's hard not to think about the end of Daylight Savings Time this week-end.  The weather may continue to be glorious, like it has been for much of October, but evening will come crashing down on us much earlier.  I don't always find that aspect of late autumn to be oppressive, but it might affect the planning of outdoor events.

When we have a good neighborhood gathering, like we did last night, I immediately want to plan a repeat event.  In part, last night's event was born out of that impulse.  In part, it was born out of my overextended brain and my inability to come up with anything different right now.

But why should I come up with something different?  We won't have these warm days much longer, at least not here in the mountains of North Carolina, and we won't have lingering light in the late afternoon much longer.