Falling Back, 48. A Different Day of the Dead.

Today was a strange Saturday. This morning, I made the last bouquest for the cemetery, and then distributed everything. The rain and fog made the day feel closed in. There were some people, though not as many as other years. This year, it seems many have staggered cleaning, and taking flowers to the cemeteries, over various days, rather than wait for the last two to crowd the place. 

While there are beautiful bouquets that are worthy of prizes, and whose creators can be considered artists, there are also a greater number of made-at-home arrangements. The day before, when I went to buy some, there were many fewer flowers to choose from than other years. Many florists stopped taking orders at the beginning of the month. Others aren't hiring as many people as other years, and are doing fewer orders. It seems the virus has also hit the flower production, since there are fewer flowers. But prices don't seem to have risen, either, which means there isn't as much demand as other years. 

When I went with my daughter to light the little paraffin lamp I have in our niche this evening, I noticed that there are no electric lights this year. Normally, during the two days before All Saint's, electricians run a service connecting lamps to the electric supply in the cemeteries for a fee. It makes the cemeteries much brighter at night, and the flowers, names, and pictures easier to see. Many people also place candles, whether normal wax candles, or fake, battery powered candles. This year, though, to try to keep people away, there are no electricians hooking up lamps. People have compensated by placing candles of all kinds, though a few niches are in the dark this year. 

Tomorrow, only fifty people will be allowed at any one time in each parochial cemetery, and groups can be no bigger than four people. Masks must be worn at all times, and distancing enforced. In some larger cemeteries, routes have been set up for people to follow, like in some stores. I assume Masses will still be held, but with a limit on attendees. I'd hate to be the one to tell some of the pious older ladies that they can't go in because the limit of people has been reached. 

All Saint's Day is the day to visit the dead and the living. Since most neighbors will visit the cemeteries, they become a place to socialize with people one hasn't seen in the last year, or since last week. Nightfall, especially, is when people like to go, precisely to see how the lights and the candles make sadness pretty. But this year, that isn't going to happen. Or, it shouldn't. 

Let's see what happens. The government is cobbling together a plan B, if another lockdown is considered necessary. The truth is, it's been necessary since at least a week ago, but no one wants to be the bearer of ill news, which might provoke reactions like in Rome, Berlin, or Barcelona, where there were protests against the new rules to try to rein in contagion. As we head into the dark days of winter, we head into the dark days of the second wave of the pandemic, and things aren't pretty.

Life continues.