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Featured Image: Skogskyrkogården on Halloween 2009 by Michael Caven

Now for something not Fate-related. This post is all about Halloween or Samhain or whatever this particular holiday is called in your culture. Specifically, it’s about my own personal thoughts and what this holiday means to me personally.

Halloween: Build a Better Candy Corn

As far back as I’ve been to keep track of things that have some personal significance to me (which maybe started around the age of 10), Halloween has always marked this transition from Summer to Winter for me. By Halloween the leaves are already gone from the trees, and bow- and waterfowl hunting season are well underway. Now it’s cold, and we have experienced our first trace of snow, and the first hard freeze.

Being cold on Halloween isn’t always the rule. Some years, Halloween still has that faint hint of summer with the occasional high being 60 or above.

However, after the 1st of the November there’s a hard smack to reality.

Winter is coming.

Party’s done. Take Your Candy and GTFO!

Once Halloween is done, then suddenly it’s November 1st. In many ways, it’s Reality’s way of slapping you in the face, ie: “Alrighty, you’ve had your fun. Summer is officially done now. It’s time to get ready for Winter.”

For me, it’s like stepping into a new year. No wonder the Celts set the start of their year on November 1st. That feeling of a new year is something that I noticed even as a kid coming down from the sugar-high on November 1st.

Sometime in my late teens or early 20s, I took that feeling of “a new year” to heart. From the time I was 23, I’ve generally used this time as a means of putting away the rest of the year. Acknowledging everything that’s happened since January 1st and putting it all to rest before the next year officially starts. It’s usually helped me deal with the post-Holidays upfuckery that is January (gods above and below, I hate January).

Warning: Tangent Ahead
So, I hate January. That’s always been the case for me—particularly the last few years. Taking an example from Fate/Grand Order Lostbelt 2, I could liken my hatred of January to Ophelia’s hatred of Sunday. Side-note: I hate Sunday, too *whip crack—get back to work slave* j/k.

Aaannnnyyyyway…I do have a goal in mind for this period leading up to the New Year: track down and eliminate the cause of why I hate January so much. Which leads me to my next point.

A Time for Planning

Generally speaking, aside from the “putting away” aspect, I’ve also used this time period for determining goals for the next year. Rejecting goals that aren’t feasible, going forward with goals that are realistic. I don’t believe in the “New Year; New Me” shtick. Of course, there’s other things to plan for at this time of year: Thanksgiving, Winter Solstice holidays, or how drunk you’re planning on getting for New Year’s Eve. Thanksgiving has always been more important to me than the Winter Solstice holidays because by Christmas or Solstice, there’s a feeling of “Whelp, this year is done” but Thanksgiving marks the start of “The Season” or perhaps it marks the beginning of the end of the year?

At any rate, there’s my disjointed ramblings for November 1st. Maybe I could plan (or should start planning) these posts better?