It's the afternoon of New Year's Eve, and so far all is quiet... After weeks of unpredictable explosions, sometimes starting already in full daylight, NYE does still seem to be the one day in December when most people hold back on their fireworks at least until sunset... *
I went to bed early last evening, had a long night and a lazy morning, and managed to get out for a half hour walk in the old cemetery before lunch. Cold and frosty, but dry ground -and less windy than it was yesterday (when I did get out for a little while as well).
Remember my post from before Christmas, when I found a gnome or elf (or what ever you prefer to call it) sitting on top of a headstone in the cemetery? (If not, you can have a peek here.) Today I happened to walk past a New Year grave decoration (on a different grave) that seemed even more odd to me (as in never having seen anything like it before):
Even more intriguing to me since the person resting here didn't die young, but at the mature age of 94. Under the dates there is a phrase or quote in a foreign language I can't identify. But a scene that might inspire a whole novel... I'm not likely to be the one writing it! - but I couldn't help imagining scenarios like the person being someone's last link to "the old country"... Immigrating perhaps back in the 1960s or so, and missed by children and grandchildren...
Does anyone among my readers know of traditions somewhere to offer food and drink to the dead, at New Year??
* (PS. The sun set at 3:30 pm. The first round of fireworks noise started just as I reached the bottom of this post, around 4:05. It's going to be a long night...)
Glad you had a good night and the weather was good for a walk. It‘s frosty here now but sunny. Yesterday I attended a funeral and dtessed very warmly for it; all was well until we had to stand in line for a while to pay our very last respects at the open grave, with the sun already sinking. I was very cold after the 20 minutes or so out in the cold.
ReplyDeleteI am sure there are various countries with traditions about food and drink for dead friends and relatives. O.k.‘s middle sister died of cancer in her mid-forties. Her friends still gather at her grave every year for her birthday, drinking sparkling wine and toasting her.
You could photograph the words on the tombstone and let google find out what it says, and what the language is.
I had to work and then ended up having a quiet night afterwards. Happy new year to you.
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