Remembrance Day, Sunday Lunch, Spaghetti Dinner

Today was a lovely day, even though the weather was drizzly and cold. There was much to be thankful for and the sense of having to say goodbye is really starting to sink in. Mike said that being here for the last two weeks is sort of like being here for the first two weeks: appreciating and noticing everything.

We went to church in the morning where the pastor, George, announced that we were leaving and then, impromptu like, asked Mike to come up and say a few words. George sort of interviewed him, just asking questions about where we're from, and how Mike and I met, and what had brought us over here, and how we liked it in England (most of the church is made up of Scots so there was some friendly jeering there), and so on. Then George asked Mike to tell the story about his being in gay ministry, and that got a good laugh. We are going to miss the friendly folks at our church, but we were glad to hear that George's sermons are available online; please go listen to at least one, just for the accent alone!

Today was Remembrance Day. People in church were dressed up more than normal--suits and ties--and everyone was wearing red poppy pins. There was a slideshow of British soldiers from different eras and patriotic slides of the Union Jack flapping in the wind and so forth. And then everyone stood for two minutes of silence. Later in the day I went for a run on the seafront and found soldiers in uniform, just wrapping up a presentation at the war memorial by the sea in Whitley Bay.

I read online that the red poppy became the symbol of Remembrance Day because of the poem "In Flanders Fields." Poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, and their red color became an appropriate symbol for the blood spilled in the war. I only had my iPhone and the sea fret was as thick as pea soup, so the photos aren't great, but I found the memorial wreaths and personal messages so moving.

After church, we walked to our favorite Sunday-afternoon spot, The Cottage Kitchen. To give you an idea of how close it is to our house and for us--for posterity, to remember our weekly walk there for lunch--we recorded this:


Yes, Merrit got his sausage and egg stottie (an oversized hamburger bun with grilled link sausage sliced in half and covered with eggs-over-medium). Mike and I ordered the roast lamb, which comes with Yorkshire pudding, gravy, and veg. (Ollie and I shared because it's a huge portion, and just £6.00...a great deal.)

Even after Ollie shared with me, he dug into Mike's meal. 

We came home and all took a big nap since it was such a foggy, drizzly day. Awesome.

Then I went for a run while the boys continued napping. Running along the seafront has been one of my favorite things about living here. It makes no difference what the weather is here: There are always people out at the coast, rain or shine. This is a big running/biking community so you never feel alone out there, any time of day or night. And there is so much variety when you get there: You can run on the sand, on the boardwalk, on the grass, up/down the steps, up/down the ramps. Mostly though, it's an energizing, spiritual place to run: the wind blowing in your hair, the seaweed-salty smell, the sound of the surf, the craggy cliffs and lighthouses and crashing waves and huge sky. This is a coastline unlike any I've ever seen. I'm going to miss it.
Tonight was also our spaghetti dinner for the neighborhood hoodlums. They have been little pranksters, playing Knocky Knocky Nine Doors and kicking open our back gate and climbing over our garden wall and, just last week, leaving markered graffiti on the wooden fence behind our garden. (The fact that they signed their names wasn't all that bright.) We asked them if they did it, they denied it, we confronted them about their names, they fessed up, Mike went and got sandpaper out of the shed, and they commenced with buffing the whole mess off.

Please note: the kid in the middle, Ben, is innocent. He just happened to be around
when the guilty parties were apprehended and coerced to undertake restorative actions.
...This whole story reminds me of a certain Tom Sawyer incident...

In all seriousness, these are sweet kids, some sweeter than others--but I have to say that the ones who're a little hard to love are the ones that have grown on Mike and I the most. I actually worry about and care a lot for two in particular and want to love on them as much as I can before we go. So, the spaghetti dinner was my idea; it was just an effort to how to show how much we have come to love these kids. Let's meet 'em:

The kids brought cards and gifts (Nerds, chocolate candies, brownies), which
was totally unexpected.

I made a plum and apple crumble for dessert.
Getting ready to go into the oven....

Dinner for seven.

Spaghetti, bolognese sauce, and garlic bread in the works.

Yeah, that is my son with no shirt on and green marker on his chest.
The boys said he did it himself but how, I ask you, did he get marks on his BACK?

These boys ate their weight in spaghetti. Everyone but Amber had seconds,
or even thirds.

Mike prayed before the meal, which kicked off a little bit of a discussion about
why we pray and what it means to be a Christian. 

"Hap Bir-day, Ollieeeeee"

Ollie's been singing "Hap Bir-day" to himself and practicing holding up four fingers (instead of three) all day long. He's been super excited about his birthday since he woke up this morning, and now, two hours past his bedtime, he's still not ready for the party to end. (Could have something to do with chocolate cake?)

Mike, off-stage: "...And get back in that bed. If you come down here again, I'm turning off that hall light!"

This evening, we had a small party. It was the four of us plus a neighbor-friend, Leo, and a sweet couple that we've come to know and love, Heather and Irvin. (Heather worked with Mike at Reflections.) Heather and Irvin dote on our boys and say all the time how much they remind them of their boys, who are now both in their 30s.

Birthday presents for the big-deal four-year-old!

We decorated the kitchen with balloons and Ollie's preschool artwork.
We decorated Ollie with a paper crown and "birthday boy" badge.

Birthday cake and close-up of the paper crown.

Mike getting ready to light the candles.

Merrit playing with balloons in the background.
Ollie gettin' his bir-day on.
It's a party!

Merrit, Leo, and Ollie.

Digging in to the cake.

The chocolate and sugar are hitting the bloodstream
right about now.

Oh yeah. That's the stuff.

Chocolate cake. In full effect.

Heather helping Ollie open a gift.

Ollie loves Heather.  He calls her "Hotter."

Mike and Irvin chatting.

Irvin and Heather gave Ollie a Fireman Sam firetruck.

When Ollie did the siren sound, he did it British-style:
"Eee arrrr ,eeee arrr, eeee arrrr."

Playing with some of his birthday Play-doh.

Birthday message from Mommy: "Happy birthday, big boy! You are a treasure to us and, as we've said since you were a tiny thing: 'You are a happy handful.' I love you to the moon and back."

Birthday message from Daddy: "Enjoy the subconscious swim, and don't let anybody box you in."

Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night

Festivities in Windsor Castle by Paul Sandby, c. 1776 (source)

The first thing I heard about Bonfire Night was a commercial on the radio for Heinz tomato soup. The voice said something like, "When your family and friends are gathered around the bonfire this weekend, everyone will be expecting tomato soup. Make it Heinz tomato soup." I was like, "HUH?"

The next night there was some police excitement in our neighborhood* when I came in with the boys at 5:30 (already dark, keep in mind, and Mike's not here). So I'm making dinner and I hear a loud thump-noise that sounded like it was coming from the back alley. I am already jumpy, so I call 999 (the UK's 911) and ask if they know what was going on on our street and whether I could have heard someone in the back garden. The policeman says, "There were a couple of teenagers and a robbery in progress, but we've apprehended the suspects. What you heard was probably fireworks because of Guy Fawkes."

Well I was relieved that they caught the bad guys, but I was utterly confused about Guy Fawkes as I hung up the phone.

I got the full scoop last night when our friends Heather and Irvin invited the kids and I for dinner at their house. Irvin told us about how The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in relative terms, was on par with a 9-11 scale terrorist plot for that day and time. Here's the basic history lesson:

After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, James I (son of Mary Queen of Scots) became king. Since I just finished reading Philippa Gregory's "The Other Queen," I was fully up-to-date on the rivalry between Elizabeth and Mary and the tension between the Protestants (supported by Elizabeth) and Catholics (supported by Mary) in England at that time.

Queen Elizabeth had persecuted and even tortured Catholics. And when James I came into power, people had hoped that he'd be more tolerant of Catholics, since his mother had been a Catholic. That turned out not to be the case, and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was put in place by 13 conspirators.

The conspirators stored 36 barrels of gunpowder in a cellar under the House of Lords; their plan was to blow up the houses of Parliament, including the king, possibly the Prince of Wales, and the members of Parliament.

But with the plot in place, some of the 13 began to have second thoughts, realizing that pro-Catholic members of Parliament and innocent people would be killed. A warning letter was reportedly circulated and found its way to the king, and the plot was foiled. When guards stormed the gunpowder-laden cellar in the early hours of November 5, conspirator Guy Fawkes was there. He was caught, tortured, and executed.

(source)

That very night, bonfires were lit all over London to celebrate the fact that the king's life was spared. Over the years, burning effigies of Guy Fawkes and, later, The Pope, were added to the bonfires, which grew larger and larger.

From www.bonfirenight.net:

The tradition of Guy Fawkes-related bonfires actually began the very same year as the failed coup. The Plot was foiled in the night between the 4th and 5th of November 1605. Already on the 5th, agitated Londoners who knew little more than that their King had been saved, joyfully lit bonfires in thanksgiving. As years progressed, however, the ritual became more elaborate.

Soon, people began placing effigies onto bonfires, and fireworks were added to the celebrations. Effigies of Guy Fawkes, and sometimes those of the Pope, graced the pyres. Still today, some communities throw dummies of both Guy Fawkes and the Pope on the bonfire (and even those of a contemporary politician or two), although the gesture is seen by most as a quirky tradition, rather than an expression of hostility towards the Pope.

Preparations for Bonfire Night celebrations include making a dummy of Guy Fawkes, which is called "the Guy". Some children even keep up an old tradition of walking in the streets, carrying "the Guy" they have just made, and beg passersby for "a penny for the Guy." The kids use the money to buy fireworks for the evening festivities. On the night itself, Guy is placed on top of the bonfire, which is then set alight; and fireworks displays fill the sky.

The extent of the celebrations and the size of the bonfire varies from one community to the next. Lewes, in the South East of England, is famous for its Bonfire Night festivities and consistently attracts thousands of people each year to participate.

Bonfire Night is not only celebrated in Britain. The tradition crossed the oceans and established itself in the British colonies during the centuries. It was actively celebrated in New England as "Pope Day" as late as the 18th century. Today, November 5th bonfires still light up in far out places like New Zealand and Newfoundland in Canada.

Irvin was telling us that when he was a boy, people would start dragging things out of their houses three or four weeks before Bonfire Night, and that the pile would be as big as a house by the Fifth of November. Today, big bonfires like that are discouraged, and the holiday has sort-of taken a back seat to Halloween, which wasn't celebrated at all when Irvin was a kid. But there are fireworks displays around the country (we'll be going to one on Sunday night here in Whitley Bay), and small, private bonfires are still allowed. I meant to ask him about tomato soup, but forgot. That really doesn't seem like an easy-to-eat bonfire food, but what do I know?

------
* Police excitement: When the boys and I were walking home at 5:30, there was a helicopter circling our end of town and three police cars parked with blue-lights flashing at the top of our street. I saw one policeman stationed at the foot of our alley, two walking down the sidewalk toward us, and a gaggle of them at the top of the street. I asked one (who looked a lot like Mike's brother Rocky), "Is it okay to go home?" and he said, "Aye, luv." I was nervous and way jumpy, but we got into the house, turned on all the lights, checked the closets, etc. (Thank God I don't have a shower curtain I had to pull back!!) On the one hand, I was thinking: "Can this be happening right here in my neighborhood?" but on the other hand I was thinking, "All this police presence for some teenagers breaking into a house?" So, I guess in the end, I felt good that they responded with such force for a burglary.

Trick or Treat!

It takes such self control to open, pour, and NOT eat it.

We only give out "the good stuff."

We went trick or treating with a neighborhood friend, dressed up as a vampire.

Ollie's a sharp shooter!

Getting ready to trick or treat.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love the costumes!
And the pumpkin carving, though we didn't do them this year.
Too heavy to CARRY home from the market. :)

A spiderweb in the doorway of our house as we head out
to trick or treat. A good Halloween omen!

We had not-too-chilly weather and crunchy leaves underfoot
as we started out.

Merrit had to peep out through the buttonholes in his shirt to see where he
was going! He only ran into two lamp posts and one wall!

Who's a faster draw? Ollie with his cap-gun or me with my
camera?

And we're off.

Knocking at our friend Callum's door.

Knocking at our friend Benedict's door.

Our friend Ben's mom giving out treats.

How cute are these?!

Here's what one friend told us: Before the movie E.T. came out and popularized the
idea of trick or treating for candy on Halloween, people in the U.K. carved turnip
lanterns (small, like these mini pumpkins) and went door to door for money. They'd
say "Happy Halloween" (instead of "Trick or Treat") and would get a coin or two.

With houses so close together, you can cover a lot
of ground in not much time!

Last stop of the evening.

Home again, with bags of candy. Not too much, though.
Here, the person at the door holds out a bowl of candy
and the kids get to pick one. None of this "big handful"
stuff like back in the states!

This was all that Ollie got after visiting about 12 or 13 houses.
Notice the apples and homemade cookies. I think that's been
taboo in the states since I was a kid!