Each week we ask our readers a question, and we want to hear what you think! Leave a comment blow, or e-mail your answers to question@c-ville.com. You can also follow Q&A on Twitter @cvillenews_desk #cvillequestion and on our Facebook page.
Month: October 2013
Each week, C-VILLE’s Green Scene page takes a look at local environmental news. The section’s bulletin board has information on local green events and keeps you up to date on statewide happenings. Got an event or a tip you’d like to see here and in the paper? Write us at news@c-ville.com.
Fall feathers: The Monticello Bird Club’s next monthly bird walk is set for 7:30am Saturday, November 2 at the Ivy Creek Natural Area. Beginners are welcome, and binoculars are available to share. Meet in the parking lot. Stick around for Ivy Creek’s volunteer work day from 9am-noon.
Walk on: Lace up your hiking shoes and head out at 6:30am Saturday, November 2 for the 12th Annual Loop de Ville, a 19-mile hike around Charlottesville on the Rivanna Trail. The strenuous hike is expected to take 6.5 to 8 hours and will likely include some wet stream crossings. Meet at the trailhead in Riverview Park.
Frack no more: The Virginia Outdoors Foundation, which holds conservation easements on many local properties, and voted to stop approving easements that could allow the natural gas extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, on protected land. The VOF board voted 5-1 to change its rules last week after a news story revealed several people on the board thought the organization’s policies already banned fracking.
Following a screening of The Counselor, one critic said: “It’s nasty film. Very well made…if that’s what you’re into.”
Judging just from The Counselor’s plot (going into business with Mexican cartels), who wrote it (Cormac McCarthy), and its location (the Texas/Mexico border), there should be no mystery as to what you’re in for.
But there are people who will ignore the rather grim poster and the film’s ominous title (Are happy movies called The Counselor?) and be shocked by the beheadings, bodies stuffed in oil drums, and shoot-outs on the side of the road.
The Counselor is the movie that Savages could have been had Savages not starred Blake Lively and been directed by Oliver Stone. Yes, The Counselor is wholly ice cold, and fits right in with McCarthy’s oeuvre (not including “The Border Trilogy”): heartless, dispassionate, realistic, with a narrative subtext that comments on the roles the characters play as they play those roles.
The Counselor (Michael Fassbender) doesn’t have a name. Why should he? He’s fodder. But he is an attorney and he does want to enter into a smuggling deal with Westray (Brad Pitt) and a nightclub owner, Reiner (Javier Bardem). Westray and Reiner warn The Counselor about what he’s getting into—don’t think for a minute Reiner’s definition of a Mexican bolo tie or Westray’s tale of snuff films won’t come back to haunt them—but The Counselor is unconcerned, even cavalier, about the danger.
There’s also Malkina (Cameron Diaz), Reiner’s girlfriend, and Laura (Penélope Cruz), The Counselor’s wife (what does she call him?). Neither has much to do, even if one of them holds significant keys to the plot. Malkina, for example, seems as if she’s on the verge of explosive rage at any moment, each word a threat, each glance a warning. Is there any mystery as to what she’s up to? It’s too bad Diaz doesn’t have the gravitas for such a role. Total asshole (Any Given Sunday)? Check. Light comedy (Take your pick)? You bet. Underhanded schemer? Not really. It’s not her intelligence that’s the problem—she’s always the smartest person on screen—it’s her acting abilities.
The two cheetahs in the movie don’t really work into the story, but they’re pretty to look at, and they give Diaz’s underwritten and overperformed character something to discuss with the hapless Goran Visnjic.
There’s also much discussion of how dumb The Counselor and Reiner are (and boy, are they) and when The Counselor’s client (Rosie Perez, who’s excellent in her only scene) inadvertently gets him into hot water, it means nothing to the cartels.
That’s a long way of saying: Sit back, don’t think about it too much, enjoy the slickness of Ridley Scott’s direction and the inevitability of the story—a sort of McCarthy specialty—if you’re given to the aforementioned beheadings, bodies in oil drums, and shootouts. There’s nothing new in The Counselor, and those who don’t appreciate a good dose of nihilism would do well to stay away. But something about it is compelling; maybe that it doesn’t pretend to be more or less than what it is.
Playing this week
Bad Grandpa
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Blue Jasmine
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
Captain Phillips
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Carrie
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Cloudy With a Chance
of Meatballs 2
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Despicable Me 2
Carmike Cinema 6
Enough Said
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
Escape Plan
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Fifth Estate
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Gravity
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Inequality for All
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
Insidious Chapter 2
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Machete Kills
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Monster’s University
Carmike Cinema 6
Planes
Carmike Cinema 6
Romeo and Juliet
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
The Smurfs
Carmike Cinema 6
The Spectacular Now
Carmike Cinema 6
The Summit
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
We Are What We Are
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
We’re the Millers
Carmike Cinema 6
Wadjda
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
The Wolverine
Carmike Cinema 6
Movie houses
Carmike Cinema 6
973-4294
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
979-7669
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
244-3213
Categories
November First Fridays Guide
Angelo 220 E. Main St. “Recent Paintings by Michael Fitts” on scrap metal panels. 5-7:30pm.
The Bridge PAI 209 Monticello Rd. “Virginia is for …” by Johanna Leech. 5-8pm.
Boutique Boutique 411 E. Main St. Day of the Dead celebration and Mexican art. 5-8pm.
Chroma Projects 418 E. Main St. “Known/Not Known,” with sculpture by Millicent Young in the Front Gallery, “Equus” by Donna DeMari in the Passage Gallery, “Proper Form/s” by Ruth Bolduan and Aggie Zed in the Black Box Gallery. Live music by Adam Wolcott Smith in the Chroma Garage. 5:30-7:30pm.
CitySpace 100 Fifth St. NE. Colorful quilts by the Crescent Hall Quilters. 5:30-7pm.
C’ville Arts Cooperative Gallery 118 E. Main St. “Glazed Over,” featuring ceramic jewelry by Jennifer Paxton. 6-8pm.
C’ville Coffee 1301 Harrison Street. “Saints and Sinners” by Adrienne Weinberger and Mary Dutta. 2-6pm.
FIREFISH Gallery 108 Second St. NW. “Strength and Movement – A Retrospective in Mixed Media” by Darrell Rose. 7-9pm.
The Gallery at Patina Antiques 1112 East High Street. Paintings by Katrina Bell and jewelry by Lucy Tkachenko. 5-7pm.
The Garage 250 First St. N. “Raw Power” by Allyson Mellberg Taylor and Jeremy Seth Taylor. 5-7:30pm.
The Honeycomb 310 E Market St. “All Soft” by Tim Skirven. 6-9pm.
Les Fabriques 206 E. Water St. Textile art by fiber artist Maryann Lincoln.
McGuffey Art Center 201 Second St. NW. “Open Spaces,” a group exhibit the Susan B. Smith Gallery and Lower Hall South, “Haiti Revisited,” oil paintings by Snowden Hall, and UVa Studio Art Majors 4th Year Show in the Upper Hall Galleries. 5:30-7:30pm.
Second Street Gallery 115 Second St. SE. “The Digital Media Gallery” in the Main Gallery in partnership with the Virginia Film Festival and “Tar Creek” by Lydia Moyer in the Dove Gallery. Reception from 5:30-7:30pm with artist talk at 6:30pm.
Telegraph 110 Fourth St. NE. “The Dog Show” with screen-prints by various artists. 5-10pm.
Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar 414 E. Main St. “Metta Mandala” by Gwendolyn Roberts. 5:30-7pm.
Warm Springs Gallery 105 Third St. NE. “Luminous Terrains” by Ed Hatch and Sara Poly. 6-8pm.
WriterHouse 508 Dale Ave. “Automatopoeia” by Blake Hurt featuring computer manipulated drawings. 5:30-7:30pm.
WVTF and Radio IQ Studio Gallery 216 W. Water St. “Play It As It Lays,” new sculpture by Kim Boggs. 5-7pm.
OTHER EXHIBITS
Atelier ONE Gallery 1716 Allied St. “Wallflowers,” paintings by Leslie Allyn.
Blenheim Vineyards 31 Blenheim Farm. Selected paintings by Christopher Baer.
Creative Framing and The Art Box 5784 Three Notch’d Road, Crozet. “Light & Life Plein Air Painting” by Meg West.
Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia 155 Rugby Rd. “Looking at the New West: Contemporary Landscape Photography,” “In the Shadow of Stalin: The Patterson Family in Painting and Film,” “Stickworks” by Patrick Dougherty, and a retrospective of paintings by Émilie Charmy.
Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection 400 Worrell Dr. “Ngau Gidthal (My Stories),” linoleum and woodblock prints by David Bosun.
Les Yeux du Monde 841 Wolf Trap Road. “Presently Observed” wax and oil paintings by Janet Bruce.
Mudhouse 213 West Main St. Paintings by Eileen French.
Pigment 1229 Harris St #13. “Porcelain & Leather” by Rebekah Wostrel and Aaron Baker.
Spring Street Boutique 107 West Main St. “Impressions of France” photos by Liza Bishop and Mouna Smires and oils on canvas by Lindsley Matthews.
Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church 717 Rugby Rd. “Cloud of Witness” by Susan Fleishman.
Cale Jaffe is the Director of the Virginia Office of the Southern Environmental Law Center, a nonprofit leveraging the power of the law to protect the environment of the Southeast. www.southernenvironment.org.
Both President Obama and Governor McDonnell have highlighted “all-of-the-above” energy policies, suggesting that coal, natural gas, onshore wind, offshore wind, solar energy, nuclear power, biomass, hydropower, and energy efficiency are all on the menu. It’s as if making energy choices is as simple as selecting side dishes at a buffet. A little bit of this, a dollop of that.
But if you look at the existing energy portfolio for Dominion Virginia Power—the electricity provider serving Charlottesville and most of Albemarle County—you’ll see that almost all of our electricity comes from just three sources: coal, natural gas, and nuclear. Renewable power accounted for only 1.1 percent of Dominion’s energy sales in 2012, mostly from hydropower and biomass. Of the more than 17,000 megawatts of capacity in Dominion’s fleet for 2013, just one lonely megawatt came from solar power.
If our president and governor agree that a full menu of options should be on the table, then why aren’t we seeing cleaner, renewable options in Virginia?
To begin answering that question, we need to make a road trip
to 1300 E. Main St. in Richmond. That’s the address for the State Corporation Commission, the regulatory agency charged with overseeing Virginia’s public utilities, including Dominion.
Dominion is required to biennially file with the Commission a long-term Integrated Resource Plan, or IRP, that contains a forecast of future energy needs and a strategy for meeting those needs. After an evidentiary hearing, the Commission will determine whether that IRP is “reasonable and in the public interest.”
Here’s what the utility foresees based on its latest IRP, released just last month. For the next several years, the overwhelming majority (more than 90 percent) of our electricity will continue to come from coal, natural gas, and nuclear. In other words, more of the same.
We can do better, and engaging on Dominion’s IRP is critical to increasing common-sense investments in wind, solar, and efficiency.
On wind, Dominion secured a lease from the Department of Interior to develop 2,000 megawatts of wind power off the coast of Virginia, enough to power 700,000 homes. But despite holding this lease, Dominion’s IRP only includes two “test” turbines. Those test turbines account for less than one percent of the lease area’s potential.
The story is similar on solar. Dominion’s IRP outlines a plan to develop 220 megawatts of solar—sufficient to power 36,000 homes—over the next ten years. It pales in comparison to what’s happening in Georgia. There, state regulators are requiring Georgia Power to develop more than three times what Dominion envisions for Virginia—and to do it in one-third of the time, by the end of 2016. Georgia authorities recognize that there’s a strong business case for solar, having determined that these investments can be made without raising electricity rates.
Of course, the cheapest and cleanest kilowatt is the one that the power company never has to generate in the first place. That’s where energy efficiency programs plug in. Back in 2007, the General Assembly set a modest efficiency goal of 10 percent. Dominion’s IRP, however, projects only meeting half of this target.
The Southern Environmental Law Center will be in front of the State Corporation Commission when it comes time to review Dominion’s IRP. We will be in the courtroom, making the case for increased investments in wind, solar, and efficiency.
The public is encouraged to weigh in as well. In fact, the Commission already has a comment box for the case up on its website (www.scc.virginia.gov). If you’d prefer to make your voice heard in person, the public hearing—back at 1300 E. Main St.—convenes on April 23, 2014, the morning after Earth Day.—Cale Jaffe
Cider is not on the mind of most diners and tipplers when they’re out on the town. In fact, most people may be surprised to know that the cider industry in the United State is currently experiencing an explosion of craft beer proportions. It’s easy to imagine winemakers as slight Frenchmen, or beer brewers as stocky, bearded, and Carhartt-clad. But who are these folks who are making cider? History enthusiasts? Foodies? Scientists? Philosophers? Or seasoned farmers?
Diane Flynt of Foggy Ridge Cider is a bit of all of the above. Her passion for crafting Virginia cider with heirloom apple varieties is fueled by her combined love of farming, history, the science of fermentation, and a strong desire to renew the legacy of a once-forgotten drink. Her nurturing and outgoing personality struck me as so benevolent and maternal, that I couldn’t help but think of her as The Matron Saint of The Orchard. I sat down with the Cider Saint to pick her brain about all things apple and cider.
C-VILLE Weekly: As the market for craft and local beer/wine/spirits expands, why cider? Was there a “eureka!” moment that got you into making cider?
Diane Flynt: For me, cider began—and continues—in the orchard. I love growing trees, knowing that my apple trees will produce delicious fruit long after I’m gone. People sometimes forget that cider is first and foremost an agricultural product, fermented from fruit, not brewed from dried ingredients mixed with water. Great cider demands high quality ingredients and the challenge of growing great fruit. Doing my best to get those nuanced and complex flavors in the bottle is the best part of cidermaking.
What is your approach to making a batch of cider? Do you have an idea of what the finished product should be like?
While there are some interesting single varietal ciders out there (think Steve Wood at Farnum Hill in New Hampshire), I think cider is best made from blends of different apple varieties, each with a unique contribution. At Foggy Ridge, we ferment many tanks of a variety of apples; we use several different yeasts depending on the apple variety, and we use slightly different fermentation protocols for different apples. For example, some tanks are fermented at lower temperatures than others. Then we age our finished cider for several months, and finally we create the blends. This is a time consuming and complex way to make cider but one that, I believe, results in layers of flavors that can’t be equaled in bottling a single ferment.
As homebrewers know, yeast plays a vital part in the flavor of a fermented beverage. How do you select your yeast strain to optimize the flavor of your ciders? How much does yeast impact the flavor of your finished product?
This may sound like heresy, but I think home cidermakers (not brewers; cider is fermented not brewed!) overestimate the effect of yeast on cider. Yes, yeast is very important and we use several yeast strains at Foggy Ridge, and we constantly experiment. That said, many other factors contribute to the flavor of finished cider such as temperature and nutrient levels. I have always used temperature as a key tool in cidermaking—our stainless steel tanks are temperature controlled and we ferment at fairly low temperature. So we need yeast strains that function well at 48 to 52 degrees F. Also, since my focus is on growing and sourcing complex cider apples, I want to express the flavor of the fruit, not create new flavors through yeast activity. Many home cidermakers don’t have access to true cider apples with tannin and complex flavors, so they may have to resort to yeast that plays a larger role in flavor than I’d choose with our great apples.
What is your personal favorite cider apple variety and why?
Tom Burford [of Albemarle Cider Works] says his favorite apple is the “last one I ate.” I’m tempted to say my favorite cider apple is the last one I fermented, but let me list a few —for tannin, I love Tremlett’s Bitter and Dabinett, two wonderful English cider apples full of soft tannin, good acid, and lots of full flavor. I also like russetted apples, cider apples with what the old timers call “rusty coats.” Ashmead’s Kernel is a favorite and I’d have an orchard full of this apple. I also like the earthy notes that come from Roxbury Russett, the first named American apple. Everyone in Virginia likes Hewe’s Crab, and we have a big planting of this tiny apple that packs a big wallop of flavor. We do use some “eating apples” that contribute to cider blends, like Stayman. But I think the future of fine cider is in the complex apple varieties grown for making cider.
What is your favorite part of your job?
My two most favorite aspects of making cider are also stylistic opposites—first, working with talented chefs, sommeliers, shop owners and bartenders in all our markets, from New York to Alabama. I learn from these food and beverage professionals every day. And, second, walking in our orchards at Foggy Ridge Cider, by myself…checking on my trees, taking notes, tasting apples, looking at growth patterns and just being close to powerful growing trees.
Where would you like your business to go in the future?
Foggy Ridge Cider is distributed in eight states and we don’t really want to grow to more markets, just continue to deepen relationships in our current markets. I’ll feel successful when more people drink well made artisan cider more often, and when there are more cider apples orchards!
Cider Week will feature eight Virginia cideries through events, workshops, and dinners in and around Charlottesville and Richmond on November 15-24. For more info, visit ciderweek va.com.
Categories
ARTS Pick: Crazy for You
Adapted for the stage by notable playwright Ken Ludwig, Crazy for You is set to the music of George and Ira Gershwin, and takes place in the bustling 1930s. Robert Chapel directs the heartwarming tale as it follows the dreams of main character Bobby Child, a playboy and future banker with a musical soul, in a production punctuated with show tune favorites “I Got Rhythm,” and “Someone to Watch Over Me.”
Through 11/2. $10-16, 8pm. Culbreth Theatre, 109 Culbreth Rd., UVA Arts Grounds. 924-3376.
Categories
Clinton stumps and charms in Charlottesville
It may be nearly 13 years since he left the Oval Office, but Bill Clinton can still pack an auditorium. On Wednesday, October 30, Clinton arrived at the Paramount Theater on the Downtown Mall to stump for Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor.
With only six days before the election, Clinton, McAuliffe and several other prominent state pols including former U.S. Congressman Tom Perriello, Delegate David Toscano, and Ralph Northam, the Dem candidate for lieutenant governor, urged those in attendance to volunteer over the next few days to help raise voter turnout.
Former UVA climatology professor Michael Mann, whose “hockey stick” graph of climate change prompted a lawsuit by Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli, further revved up the crowd.
“Ken Cuccinelli is dangerous for our researchers, he’s dangerous for our economy, and he’s dangerous for our communities,” said Mann, who introduced McAuliffe as someone who will “embrace science.”
McAuliffe stressed job creation, education and his progressive position on social issues, and received numerous rounds of applause, but it was Clinton who brought the audience to its feet at the end of the event, as he described the Virginia governor’s race as illustrative of the same fight that’s going on all over the world. “There are people that want to share the future,” he said, referring to his longtime friend McAuliffe, “and people who want to own it.”
“I need a little encouragement in light of all the garbage coming out of Washington,” said lifelong Dem David Gilbertson, who was one of hundreds of people in line for the rally with President Bill Clinton and gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe on Wednesday, October 30. “Every time I’ve heard Clinton speak, it’s always been motivational,” said Gilbertson. Photo: Courteney Stuart
“Bill Clinton is always awesome,” said Kyle Gardiner, third from left, with fellow Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy classmates, from left, Sama Ehtesham, Asasi Francois, and Kate Bondurant. Photo: Courteney Stuart
“We came here to listen to Clinton,” said Jianghong Liao, right. “He is very famous in Japan and in China.” Liao, who is from China, came to the event with friends Sumiko Sakurai and Yuko Nishiyama, who are both from Japan. Photo: Courteney Stuart
“He’s a charismatic, beautiful person,” said Lake Monticello resident Mary Boyd, left, of President Bill Clinton. She came to the Downtown Mall with fellow Fluvannan Jean DeMarco, who was delighted to have shaken hands with Clinton and been kissed on the cheek by McAuliffe. Photo: Courteney Stuart
Capitalizing on the Dem crowds flowing into the Paramount, Democratic city council candidate Kristin Szakos handed out signs. Photo: Courteney Stuart
Ever wonder what Spanish explorers listened to as they mapped the world? Probably not. But worth exploring are the discoveries of Britain’s Ensemble Plus Ultra.
The ensemble is an eight-piece consort of chamber musicians that sings early liturgical music, mostly, from the Spanish Renaissance. Founded by Michael Noone in 2001, EPU formed when Noone discovered previously unknown music from the Spanish composer Cristóbal de Morales in the Toledo Cathedral archive. In reconstructing 16th century choir books and other badly damaged musical texts he became enamoured with their potential for contemporary audiences. Compelled and inspired to share what he’d found, Noone got “the best singers” he knew together, and the group debuted with Morales’ rediscovered work in Toledo in 2003.
Since then, Plus Ultra has recorded 17 CDs, winning the 2012 Gramophone Award for Early Music, toured frequently throughout Europe (and extensively in Spain), performed at various music festivals, and recently introduced itself to American audiences.
The name Plus Ultra (“thus far, and further”) comes from the motto of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor and first Hapsburg King of Spain, who modified his original motto of “Non plus ultra” (thus far, and no further) to grant Spanish explorers and the empire greater geographical reign. The ensemble, in turn, gives voice to previously unheard liturgical music and broadens the Renaissance musical canon.
“One of the things we’ve tried to do, very faithfully, is to reproduce the sound of the 16th century as much as possible,” Noone said.
Being faithful to the original music and the structure of the Spanish liturgy means excluding the conductor or minimizing any directorial influence. The point of the performances is to accentuate the voices of highly skilled individual singers while also merging their symphonic qualities. As singer and co-director David Martin said, “We tend to bring in the experiences of all of the musicians rather than just the opinions of one person at the front.” This shared autonomy is what makes the group a chamber and not a choir, and allows for slight improvisation or adjustment and adds to the push for discovery.
Noone, who received his doctorate in musicology from Kings College, Cambridge and now co-directs and does the historical research for the group, feels Plus Ultra’s objective is to emotionally interact with the audience.
“It’s all about moving the audience with the human voice. It’s about direct communication. There’s not very much point in discovering fabulous music if no one can hear it,” he said.
A significant connection is inevitable when eight singers (and six in Charlottesville) stand on an open stage with nothing but sheets of music separating them from the audience. It’s for that reason, among others, that according to Martin, “Classical music is going through a renaissance. The popularity of classical music concerts, and within that vast genre, chamber music concerts, is really increasing. I think its our job to make things a little bit more interesting to entice people in and encourage them to enjoy what we do.”
“I think ‘thus far, and further’ fits in very well with our desire to create new music and commission composers to write new music based on what has come before. The 16th century composer has written the music, it’s our job to bring it to life. They’ve done the ‘thus far’ bit, it’s our job to make it ‘and further’.”
Ensemble Plus Ultra is one of a wide array of classical chamber musical groups performing in the series this year. “We always have a smorgasbord of offerings for the entire season,” said TECS executive director Karen Pellón. The purpose of which, she said, “is to bring the finest classical chamber music to the region.”
Providing the highest quality of music has been the modus operandi of the series since its inception in 1948 when the TECS Group was founded by Martin B. Hiden and presented for its first concert, The Mozart Trio. In 1951, the series took its present form and has been showcasing notable classical musicians, such as Yo-Yo Ma, Yuri Bashmet, Pinchas Zuckerman, and Joshua Bell, ever since.
The Charlottesville audience will bear witness to the group’s chamber music and aural tones in a program that consists of music from Francisco Guerrero, Bernardo de Ribera, Tomas Luis de Victoria, and Morales.
Ensemble Plus Ultra performs at Cabell Hall November 12. Samples of the group’s work are accessible at www.ensembleplusultra.com. Tickets to the Tuesday Evening Concert Series are available at the UVA Arts box office or the website at www.tecs.org.
When I stepped outside Saturday morning, buzzards were roosting in a bare tree at the back of the yard. The plants had frozen during the week and, taken together, the natural signals set off a kind of frenzy in me. I harvested the carrots and whatever else was left growing and trimmed the shrubs to the ground, before spending the remainder of the day hacking back honeysuckle, pulling up ivy, and spreading mulch. I wanted clean lines, a sense of order.
When the seasons change, we talk about the weather: how cold it’s gotten, how early it’s getting dark, when the first snow will blow. It’s all code for something that’s happening inside of us. We used to have markers for this kind of thing. The saints’ feasts days connected nature to the church calendar, and connected the peasants to God, land, and each other. Only a few holidays survived the Reformation and the trip to the New World. Not that any American settler would have noticed. Scraping a living out of the land kept them in touch with what the Lakota called taku skan skan, what moves what moves.
Halloween, the least churchy of our holidays, hangs on because it serves the irreplaceable purpose of answering why we sometimes want to howl at the moon at the moment when the forces of the earth turn inside out. Instead of growing leaves and flowers, the plants pull their life force underground. So we follow suit, as Elizabeth Derby does in this week’s feature, by turning our thoughts to what’s not visible. Do we put on masks so we won’t be recognized? Or so we will?