The television is on

 Here is an oddity.   This is a patch of European thistles.  The bees love them.  But the bees do not love them equally.  Notice that one thistle has several bees on it, while the others are untouched.  Why would that be?  There are few things so un-picky as a bee.  If it has pollen, they will come.

We have been in the Adriatic North Mission since February.  That entire time we have lived in apartments that have television service and internet service bundled together by a single provider.  In that entire time we have not watched television.  We haven't felt any need for it, and we haven't missed it.  We usually pull the HDMI cable out of the TV port on the router and plug into a laptop so we can use Zoom, or whatever else is on there that we need.   Tonight, I hooked the TV up and got it tuned to CNN.  

    Tomorrow, we are going to Ljubljana to the police station for the final task of getting a one year visa.  We have a full day of apartment inspections and birthday celebrations to do, as well.  When we get back, the voting stations in the states will be in full swing, but we won't have any good idea of what happens on election day until at least Wednesday.  If nothing else, this election has been exciting.

Yesterday was Halloween.  In Slovenia, it is a Day of the Dead (like Dia de La Muerte), where families get together at gravesites and decorate the stones.  Keep in mind that the typical family here has a gravesite with a crypt that may hold a dozen or more caskets.  They honor their dead, and the stones are regularly washed, swept, fresh flowers left, and luminaria (a Luna in Slovene) lit.  On this day, there is also a tradition of leaving a Luna in front of the statue of Jesus in the cemetery.  Today there is a small field holding thousands of lunas in the big Maribor cemetery.  Some hold candles, and some are battery
powered, but they will be left undisturbed until the last one has flickered its last.  Sadly, COVID has the numbers of celebrants down, but some traditions cannot be repressed.

This is Sister Johansen last night, standing by a grave with the crypt stone covered by fresh flowers and lunas.

And this is the statue of Jesus with lunas honoring him.  This was at a cemetery in Zagreb and the two photos above were taken by Elder Johansen.

Yesterday was also an official holiday - Reformation Day.   It is in honor of the Protestant Reformation of the Catholic Church.

  The stores are prepared for the celebration, and here is a photo of the lunas.

The permanent shelf, and pallets of extras in front.  They look a bit like canning jars, but these are luna, intended for graveside honoraria.  They all have handles so they can be hung or tied down.  The grocery stores always have these available, but this week they had lots, and lots, and lots of them, and quite a few left over.  They cost about 5-6 Euros apiece for the battery powered ones - less for the candles which are subject to being distinguished by a gust of wind.