Happy New Year

Wishing you a happy new year. Here's a picture of the last sunset of the year here in Albufeira, Portugal.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Holiday Inn, 1942

Let's give thanks for...

Let's give thanks for... FOOD! Thank goodness for the things brought from America. Food would be very boring without them.

Here are somethings I learned from the Native American Encyclopedia:
'Native American food for many American Indian tribes consisted of many fruits and vegetables that they would grow, and also from deer and other animals that they would hunt. A few of the vegetables that were present among most Native American food are things like corn, squash, and beans, which are referred to as the three sisters.'

Apparently, the three sisters are maize, squash and beans and they were planted close together. The maize stalks would serve as support for the beans and the squash, which would spread along the ground around the other two, would prevent weeds from popping up. Together, these three would provide a balanced diet for Native Americans.

From the Woodland Indian Educational Program we learn:

 and:

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling a little hungry right about now....

Muertos...

Dia de los Muertos

A day late, I know...

Beware of witches...

A dark Cave. In the middle, a Caldron boiling. Thunder. Enter the three Witches.

FIRST WITCH:  Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd. 
SECOND WITCH:  Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin'd. 
THIRD WITCH:  Harpier cries:—'tis time! 'tis time! 
FIRST WITCH:  Round about the caldron go;
    In the poison'd entrails throw.—
    Toad, that under cold stone,
    Days and nights has thirty-one;
    Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
    Boil thou first i' the charmed pot! 
ALL:  Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 
SECOND WITCH:  Fillet of a fenny snake,
    In the caldron boil and bake;
    Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
    Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
    Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
    Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—
    For a charm of powerful trouble,
    Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
ALL:  Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 
THIRD WITCH:  Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf;
    Witches' mummy; maw and gulf
    Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark;
    Root of hemlock digg'd in the dark;
    Liver of blaspheming Jew;
    Gall of goat, and slips of yew
    Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse;
    Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips;
    Finger of birth-strangled babe
    Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,—
    Make the gruel thick and slab:
    Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
    For the ingredients of our caldron. 
ALL:  Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 
SECOND WITCH:  Cool it with a baboon's blood,
    Then the charm is firm and good. 

William Shakespeare, MacBeth, act IV, scene 1

Creole? In North America?

Around here, creole is a dialect spoken by people from Cape Verde. I hear it daily, since there are so many of them here, although I don't get a word... well, most of the words.
I knew that African descendents in Louisiana are called Creoles, and sort of assumed that this designation extended to certain aspects of French colonial culture (Louisiana was once upon a time a French colony), but I didn't realise that it also applied to a certain type of architecture. So I searched and found several interesting examples of the creole style. I was surprised to see how different creole houses could be, ranging from plain to stunning, and/or tiny to huge...

2 and 4 bay creole cottages 

     4 and 2 bay creole cottages

Creole townhouses

Creole cottage and house

Creole plantation houses

Exit signs

Well, that road sign did turn out to be for me. My usual exit, times two this year. Pretty good considering I expected not to leave the road to nowhere this year. Unfortunately, it's been keeping me extremely busy and very stuck to reality. But I'll come back to my dream land, you just wait and see. There's only so much reality one can take....
And speaking of escaping reality, here's  something weird...