Halloween passed rather uneventfully here yesterday. There was a party for the little monsters of Wolfson College in the afternoon and there was some trick-or-treating in the evening. I only got one knock, but since it sounded like there was an army of ghosts and goblins out there and we had completely forgotten to get any candy, I "wasn't home." I read in the news here that Halloween only arrived in Britain from America in the 1990s but has really caught hold. There's a pumpkin farmer in England who's doing very well.
There's another holiday coming up this weekend that we are really looking forward to. It's Guy Fawkes Day, a.k.a. Bonfire Night, on November 5. It commemorates the thwarting (under mysterious circumstances) of the conspiracy known as the Gunpowder Plot, in which Guy Fawkes and some friends planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605.
The event is commemorated with bonfires and fireworks, and there have been fireworks going off every night around here for the past week. They are selling them in regular stores, and they are big rocket-type things that make David's eyes get all wide like saucers. Wolfson College is going to have its very own fireworks display on November 5, which we'll certainly check out.
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