i put on a blonde wig and a red mask and went strolling down the street in the warm night. Little kids with flimsy swords and fairy wings and tilted headgear were running up to houses in search of candy, their parents at their backs. Medium kids were walking down the street in small cliques, talk talk talk, and some were kicking field goals down the block. The oldest kids were hanging out by a car, sneaking a smoke. Grownups in funny hats were pouring into a house for a party. It's Halloween in the hood.

All Saints Day, a Roman Catholic Holy Day, will soon arrive on November first, the day after Halloween. In parts of Louisiana, people celebrated this day by visiting the graves and tombs of departed family members and dear friends. Stones were cleaned and white-washed, flowers and mementos were brought along to decorate the graves, and visitors picnicked at the site. In New Orleans, street vendors sold tiny carved skeletons and sugar skulls. Besides providing enthusiastic community care for the graves and cemeteries, the Holy Day (and city holiday) gave death a nod, and a day to remember those buried there.

Austin State Hospital Cemetery, Austin, Texas, 3-29-12

Sometimes promises didn't come through, and they operated on the fly. Appliances, printers, phones, cameras, internet, hoses and recipes, news and weather reports, books and movies, dryers and underwear went awry. People didn't show up. Jobs fell through.

The focus function on my camera didn't respond to these lizards, but affably left a bit of abstract art instead.

I came upon this delightful ball of little mushrooms on October 19, 2012, here in Lafayette, Louisiana:

Here is a photo of the mushrooms five days later, on October 24:

July 2012

June 2012 -