All Souls

Last night I took full advantage of a lull between storms to walk Tannah. Despite being a water dog, i.e., Spaniel, she's not as big a fan as one might think of getting wet; in the rain at least. I haven't noticed much of an aversion to her trotting through a puddle. However I like the evenings immediately following the trick-or-treating, and often leash her up once I realize the raindrops thrumming atop the roof have stopped. It's really the last opportunity to see the many Hallowe'en displays that have not yet been dismantled. Sometimes even the odd pumpkin's been re-lit.

We were on the back stretch of our walk and approaching Mountain View Cemetery when I thought I heard trumpets, or at least brass instruments of some sort. Immediately I thought of the All Souls event that the cemetery has been producing for a while now; I really don't know for how many years. I followed the sound of the music down the designated bike route along E. 37th until I caught up with the band. I began filming because the music was so mesmerizing, paired with the darkness of such a large site illuminated only by hand-held candles held by the slowly marching crowd.

If I can figure out how to post a short clip of my video (the size of video files is the limiting factor it seems) I will do so soon. I just looked up the band; they call themselves "Balkan Shmalkan". The style of music kinda reminded me of a slow musical procession as part of a funeral in New Orleans I saw in a movie once.

These are my pumpkin art contributions for 2018.