it is the eve of the hallow and whilst witches and goblins ply the night to frighten and trick the mortals, the dead stirs from the crypt as the living invokes its soul with prayers and chanting.
i remember a hallow eve so many years ago, we had just moved in to our family home when mother, who was pregnant at the time, went into labour. father rushed her to the hospital, leaving us four siblings at home. we had no electricity yet as the electric company was slow to do the installation and connection so we used oil lamps, fashioned by father out of empty glass jars. our backyard was dense with tall banana plants and in the east side, even taller and denser bamboos that creaked with even the slightest breeze. there were bats, too, and two flew in through the opened window and in our confusion, one of us children somehow blew out the flame of the lamp. we sat still against the wall but when the neighbour's dog howled with such an eerie tone to it, my brother started to whimper. for god's sakes, he's a boy and the older among us, he's supposed to protect us. but no, he's whimpering in fright! so i told him to look under the table and tell me if he could see a face. that was enough to make him scream (like a girl, mind you) and the two younger ones also screamed. i did, too. the neighbours came and took us into their home and let us stay the night. in the morning, when our father came back, he wasn't happy that we were at the neighbour's. and indeed there was a face underneath the table: a picture (from a calendar) of one of the saints.
end of story: i was beaten up for instigating fright. tee-hee!
-o0o-
ouzo is an anise-flavoured aperitif that is widely consumed in greece and cyprus. it is sometimes said that it is similar to absinthe as it has the same characteristics and flavour as absinthe. anise flavouring is added during distillation as well as other ingredients, which vary from distiller to distiller or region. it is often served with a platter of mezes (appetizers).
my entry for the get pushed #118.
my partner this week, cindy johnson
@pittcj17 challenged me "to do something scary" :-) i'd have wanted to shoot all the trick and treaters outside, but it's been intermittent pouring rain since last night and i just couldn't care about going out. my shoulder and elbow are killing my enthusiasm for anything strenous. so, i set up my dining table with candles, threw some wine glasses and did some long exposure shots.
that damn ouzo was quite expensive but i figured i can give it as a gift to somebody during Christmas.
because i used candles exclusively for the shot sans any other kind of lighting - stubbed my already broken baby toe yet again! - i'm tagging this for the current camera settings challenge.
and because i inserted my head during the shot, tagging this, too, for the five plus two's anatomy theme this week.
also for the weekly theme-absurdism. and of course this is the final "o" for october.
i believe that's a fiver! yay!
thank you for your kind visits and comments; know that they are truly and greatly appreciated.
BTW my address is 599 Ma.....if you are wonderfiing where to send the ouzo! ;)