November, radiate from within

November has crept in again on the heels of Halloween. No other seasonal shift is quite as abrupt as this one. October and November are true seasonal ninjas. November is just lying in wait while everyone revels in the deafening crescendo of Octoberness on it's final day, Halloween. And then we're all bewildered when the next morning October is no where to be found.

It's time to bake pies! And roast carrots! And simmer soups! Forget October, that is so yesterday! You're now fully immersed in a new season, get used to it!

Our new calendar girl is a true beacon of Novemberness through and through. She radiates warmth from within in this season of cold and darkness. November is a time of coming together. Blending families and friends over a tapestry of shared recipes and recounted stories that have ripened with age.

She wears a ball skirt of tartan plaid, an homage to her father's Scottish heritage. She inherited his imperviousness to the cold and his love of wearing skirts.

And on her ears, giant earrings inherited from her mother. She also inherited her beautiful skin tone and her recipe for 72 hour simmered mole sauce.

She tends a garden year round, naming each carrot, nurturing each cabbage. She knows that love makes things grow and that the best way to warm cold hands is by filling them with a warm bowl of soup.

She invites you to stop by for dinner, served at a wonderful old table set beside an open hearth, spread with a hodgepodge of her grandmother's china patterns and filled with ancestral recipes.

Just please be sure to give her three days notice if you want to try the mole sauce!

Jane Austen

Jane Austen, (born December 16, 1775, Steventon, Hampshire, England—died July 18, 1817, Winchester, Hampshire), English writer who first gave the novel its distinctly modern character through her treatment of ordinary people in everyday life.

"Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery." - Jane Austen

Jane Austen, the world renowned English author, completed just six works during her time and yet manages to command a legion of fans around the world. Her timeless stories have been turned into a plethora of movies, television shows, and modern adaptations in addition to being translated into multiple languages to cross cultural boundaries. Today she remains as popular as ever and is revered as much as any literary figure in the history of the English language.

KEROSINE LAMP

    vessel containing kerosine with a wick for burning to provide light. Such lamps were widely used from the 1860s, when kerosine first became plentiful, until the development of electric lighting. Compared with other oil lamps they were safe, efficient, and simple to operate. The kerosine fed the wick by capillary action alone. An adjustment knob, the only mechanism needed, controlled the lamp's brightness by raising or lowering the wick to vary the size of the flame. A glass chimney, which was used more widely and effectively on kerosine lamps than on any previous lamps, enhanced the steadiness, brightness, and cleanness of the flame. No inventor of the kerosine lamp can be named, but hundreds of persons filed patent applications for modifications. In 1865 the duplex burner, with two flat wicks set near each other to augment the heat and brilliance of their flames, was introduced. In Europe, Argand burners with cylindrical wicks were widely used.

Famous Charles Bridge in Autumn Melancholy, Prague.
Czech Republic

Let's sit here for a spell...

October's the month
When the smallest breeze
Gives us a shower
Of autumn leaves.
Bonfires and pumpkins,
Leaves sailing down —
October is red
And golden and brown.

The Origin of Halloween

Halloween is celebrated on the 31st of October. According to scientists it originated from an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain. People believed that on that day the dead could visit the living, as their spirits return to earth.

Traditions

Traditionally on Halloween Night people wear scary or funny costumes of witches, vampires, pirates, fairies and ghosts. The most popular children's amusement on Halloween is "trick-or-treating".

They visit houses in their neighbourhood knocking on every door yelling the phrase: "Trick or treat!" Usually people give them sweets, fruit and candies, but if they don't, the children can play a low-down trick on them.

Another famous All Saints’ Night tradition is making Jack O'Lantern: people carve a scary smiling face on a pumpkin and put a candle inside.

Traditional Halloween symbols are bats, black cats (and white ones in England), spiders, ghosts and images of Jack O'Lantern.
Halloween is celebrated all over the world

Halloween is celebrated in many countries all over the world. In some of them (China, Mexico, Austria) the dead are honored and welcomed: people leave food and gifts for the souls of their deceased loved ones and keep lights in their houses burning all night.

In other countries, like Germany, people are afraid of ghosts and spirits. They even hide knives and other sharp objects in order not to be hurt by these visitors on Halloween night.

The Spiderman Of Paris

Mamoudou Gassama, a migrant from Mali, has become a household name in France. They call him the Spiderman of Paris.

Mamoudou never considered himself a hero. He grew up in Mali, an African country riddled with poverty, famine, and war.

Mamoudou sought to find a better life elsewhere. He crossed the Sahara desert with some fellow refugees. The journey was hard and risky, but the small group made it to Libya. Unfortunately, the authorities arrested them and sent them home to Mali.

Returning to the war and the horror of his country made Mamoudou more determined to flee. He hopped on a boat to the Italian coast. The trip could have cost him his life, but he survived.

Mamoudou arrived in Italy in 2014 as an illegal immigrant. He did not receive a warm welcome. Nevertheless, he managed to survive in the country like a ghost without any rights or protection for four years.

Aged 22, Mamoudou made the trip to France to be reunited with his brothers. Being with his own flesh and blood was a great comfort for Mamoudou. Even so, the life of an illegal immigrant is notoriously difficult in France.

One fateful day in Paris, he was walking along the street when he noticed a crowd staring up at a high-rise apartment in horror. Following their gaze, he saw a terrified toddler hanging on to the edge of a balcony for dear life.

The gathered French citizens were frozen. They feared the worst. Mamoudou knew the child wouldn’t be able to hold on until the emergency services arrived.

Being an illegal immigrant, Mamoudou knew it was better to keep his head down, but when he saw a child in danger, he didn’t hesitate to step forward.

Mamoudou began to climb the exterior of the building. The bystanders’ jaws dropped as he climbed several floors of balconies. He did so at an amazing pace. The crowd’s shock quickly turned to cheers of encouragement.

In 30 seconds, Mamoudou climbed four stories and pulled the youngster to safety. The crowd erupted in a wave of applause and tears of joy. In that instant Mamoudou, the illegal immigrant had become Mamoudou, the superhero.

Since that day Mamoudou has been granted French citizenship for his bravery. He has also found employment with the Paris firefighters.

Mamoudou remains humble about his heroic deeds. The man from Mali said, “I didn’t think about it. I climbed up and God helped me.”

Vocabulary

household name
someone who is famous
riddled
full of negative qualities
made it
achieved a goal
flesh and blood
children or relatives
keep one’s head down
avoid being noticed; get involved with something
jaws dropped
were surprised and shocked; couldn’t believe what they were seeing

Michael Bond Writer.
Born Newbury.
His first book 'A Bear Called Paddington' was published in 1958.
There have been 23 Paddington books.
Also writes for adults.

Michael Bond the creator of Paddington Bear has died at the age of: 91!
Born: 1/13/1926 & Died: 6/27/2017!
He will truly be missed & may he R.I.P.

Everyone knows how difficult it is to maintain a long-distance relationship. It takes a tremendous amount of commitment, effort and self-discipline to keep it going. Well, Klepatan and Malena have kept their relationship going strong for 16 years, and they are 16,000 kilometers apart. Well, that is, except when Klepatan flies in for his yearly visit.

Long Distance Love Birds

Every August, Klepatan says goodbye to his lover Malena, before going to South Africa where he spends the spring and summer. Every March, like clockwork, he flies back to Croatia to be with his partner. Klepatan and the love of his life, Malena, are birds, storks to be more specific. And they have been continuing their long distance romance for the past 16 years.

Klepatan is one of millions of birds that travel thousands of kilometers between South Africa and Croatia as the weather warms, but his relationship with Malena is one of a kind.

In 1993, Malena was shot by a hunter in Croatia. A school caretaker named Stjepan Vokic found the wounded bird and took her home. He cared for the bird until she was healthy and named her Malena, which means ‘little one’.

Stjepan nursed Malena back to health, but she still cannot fly properly. He wanted to make sure that Malena didn’t miss out on the joys of motherhood. To help her find a mate, Stjepan built her a nest on top of his house. In that nest, Malena and Klepatan first met, fell in love and have raised many baby storks.

The local media celebrate Klepatan’s yearly visits. There is a 24-hour live video feed of Malena’s nest playing in the capital of Croatia.

Klepatan not only arrives on the same day but often at the same hour. In 2016, he broke the pattern and arrived six days late. It was so out of character that people panicked that something terrible must have happened to him. When another suitor arrived in his place, Malena would accept no substitutes for Klepatan. She attacked the new bird until he flew off.

Klepatan and Malena have 4 to 5 baby storks every year. Since Malena can only fly short distances, Klepatan handles the flight training of their children.

In March, Klepatan departs again on his 13,000-kilometer flight home leaving Malena behind. This is when Stjepan steps in again to keep Malena from getting lonely. He says that after Klepatan leaves Malena, she mourns for ten days. “Then I take her in the car to the meadows for fishing, to take her mind off it.” During the cold winter months, he brings Malena into his house to live with him. The ever-caring Stjepan feeds her fish and the unlikely pair watch nature documentaries together on TV.

Vocabulary

like clockwork
regularly or exactly as planned
one of a kind
unique
miss out
lose the chance to experience something
out of character
behavior that does not match the person’s normal behavior
step in
take responsibility for something when there is a need
take one’s mind off something
stop thinking or worrying about something