Monday This and That

"November's sky is chill and drear,
November's leaf is red and sear."

Sir Walter Scott

Welcome Monday. When I was working I always looked at Monday as both an ending and a beginning. It was a time to close out the previous week and start on another.  It is very cool outdoors this morning, a big difference from a few days ago.  Actually, thus far this Autumn has been as been as unpredictable as our summer was.  One day it is hot, the next it is cold.  One day feels like Spring, the next like Winter is about to arrive.  

Can you believe it is November already? The name 'November' is believed to be derived from the  word ’novem' which  is the Latin word for the number 'nine' In fact, at one time November was the ninth month--that is, until the Romans added two months to the beginning of the year. It is the first month of Samhain, the end of summer and the coming of the darkness in the Pagan Calendar. The full moon of November is the 'Hunter’s Moon' or 'Beaver Moon'. t is also called the 'Frosty Moon'. The Lakota Indians call it 'the Moon of the Falling Leaves', and to the  Celts it was 'the Dark Moon'. 

In the astrological calendar, November begins with  the month of the house of Scorpio and ends in the house of Sagittarius. The birthstone for this month is the Topaz or Citrine; the flower is the Chrysanthemum.

On Saturday when I took my  weekly trip to the fruit stand,  it was a nice day so I decided to go a bit further and took a walk over to the park and sat on a bench for awhile. It was the first time I had actually taken notice of the name of the park, and I thought this was a rather unusual name for a park that is in a mixed,  but primarily Asian, neighborhood so I came home and did a little research.  Brooklyn is, and always has been, a borough with distinct ethnic, but ever changing neighborhoods.  I once had a cookbook which was divided into all the different neighborhoods.  Each chapter told several tales about Old Brooklyn and offered recipes from the various ethnic groups.  Oh, I loved that book.  Loaned it out many years ago and never got it back (Sigh) and never found it again. 

So, as I was saying, Brooklyn is forever changing.  When my ancestors settled here, they settled in a neighborhood composed of German immigrants.  That neighborhood is now Jewish.  Bensonhurst, traditionally Italian and once known as Brooklyn's 'Little Italy', is still primarily Italian, but the population has begun changing as Asian, Latino, and Russian immigrants are moving in. In fact, when hubby and I first began looking for a place 21 years ago, we had wanted to live in Bensonhurst, but as soon as they got a look at hubby, suddenly there was nothing available. We knew that this was  because he was Dominican. Today they would welcome us with open arms.  Times have certainly changed.  

As it turns out, the area that my park is located in was once primarily Irish, and Norwegian. I had my answer.  It is only natural that a park in this formerly Scandinavian neighborhood be named after one of the most famous explorer of them all.  In fact, I can't wait to go back and do some some exploring myself.  I've always contented myself with sitting on the first free bench I find, but, after researching the park and its history, I understand that the park features a number of Norse motifs, including a 'troll', so  I am anxious to see the rest of it. 

The November sky as I waited for the bus to take me to church on Sunday.  I never did make it.  The only bus that came by was so packed that people were standing in the doorway.  The next bus never came.  Guess it must have had something to do with the marathon. 

My building.  Look at the difference in the trees in a couple of weeks. Before we know it, the trees will be bare.  And finally...

This very special photo of hubby and I was taken on June 6, 1996.  We were on a river cruise and got someone to snap this photo of us as we passed the World Trade Center. I told hubby we look like Lucy and Desi.  Don't know what kind of hair style I had then, but I sure could pass for Lucy's twin.

"The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I'll put a trinket on." 

  Emily Dickinson