The Merry Month of November

November is a busy month for celebrations here in Cambridge. November 5 is Guy Fawkes Day, also known as Bonfire Night. Guy Fawkes Day is a recognition of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot, a secret plan to overthrow the king and blow up the Parliament building with a stash of gunpowder. The highlight of the celebration is a grand fireworks display and a huge bonfire, which traditionally burned an effigy of Guy Fawkes and sometimes the Pope (because conspirators were Catholic), but apparently naming the effigy is not politically correct, so now effigies are anonymous. I honestly couldn't see whether there was any such thing at the bonfire we attended. But the fun wasn't limited to just one night. We actually saw fireworks from the windows of our home on several nights before and after November 5. I guess with no Independence Day celebrations, this is their big opportunity to enjoy the fireworks. One advantage to the November spectacle is that it gets dark early enough for even the children to enjoy the display before bedtime.




November 11 is known here as Remembrance Day which commemorates the lives lost in times of war, with specific attention to the First World War. The British suffered nearly 1 million deaths resulting from World War I. Remembrance Day was marked nationwide with visits to gravesites and memorials, wreaths of red poppies, and two minutes of silence at 11:00 am. Even the school children participated. I was impressed by the observation of the holiday. Growing up in the US, I have not found Veteran's Day to have the same widespread reverence.

November 16 brought the arrival of the official Christmas shopping season in Cambridge. The celebration included a parade, concert, Father Christmas, and the "Switch On" of the decorative lights in town. All of this was conducted in miserable fog and rain. Mind you, there's no shying away from saying Christmas here. I'll wait to see if people wish me "Happy Christmas" or just "Happy Holidays".