Dolce far Niente

Santa Barbara....this is the only paradise, 

the real land of dolce far niente, the home of the gods....

~ Charles Frederick Holder, The Californian, 1892

Thanksgiving Day

On this day, gather a variety of fresh thanks for the common blessings of life.  The following make a good combination:

• That you are even as good looking as you are
• That whatever life denies you it is sure to push you into opportunities for character growth
• Thanks for will power
• For the charm of individuality ~ that which makes you unique in the universe
•  That your emotional nature is sound and exquisitely responsive
•  Thanks for friends, and that those who have passed on walked beside you so long
• Thanks that life has infinite perspective, that though veil after veil be lifted, there's veil after veil beyond
• Thanks for a growing compassion for the turkey

We rejoice that it has entered the hearts of an entire nation to keep each year a public thanksgiving day.

~ Good Things, Elizabeth Goodhue, 1911

Halloween - When Supernatural Influences Prevail....

 The leading idea respecting Halloween is that it is the time of all others, when supernatural influences prevail. It is the night set apart for a universal walking abroad of spirits, both of the visible and invisible world,  for as will be afterwards seen, one of the special characteristics attributed to this mystic evening is the faculty conferred on the immaterial principle in humanity to detach itself from its corporeal tenement, and wander abroad through the realms of space.

Divination is then believed to attain its highest power and the gift asserted by Glendower of calling spirits from the vasty deep becomes available to all who choose to avail themselves of the privileges of the occasion.

~The Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities, W & R Chambers, 1832