Author Archives: John Cutrone

Fall (into Winter)

Back when July became August, we talked about a subtle shift, an acknowledgement of summer’s waning. Some seven and a half weeks later, here we are at complete acknowledgment: we have reached the equinox. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, this day brings the autumnal equinox, and, by the almanac, the first day of fall. All is balanced. All is more or less equal, no matter where we find ourselves at this moment on our planet: Day and night, roughly in balance with each other, pole to pole and around the equator, and if you look west at sunset down a street that travels a clean line in that direction, the sun will most certainly be shining in your eyes, making everything awash in white, until our star sinks below the horizon, leaving behind a glorious sunset. This balance will last for a few days, but check back in a week and already you’ll see the sun has shifted further to the south. As the Earth seems to rock back and forth in its seat, we, here in the Northern Hemisphere, are now falling into winter, while the Southern Hemisphere in springing into summer. This is the Constant Rearrange that makes every day somewhat different from the one before and the one that follows. It is the way of our world, the way of our days, the way of the wheel of the year.

Equinox, from the Latin: equal night. The moment of equinox this time around, when the sun passes over the equator, is at 8:43 AM here in Lake Worth, which is currently in Eastern Daylight Time. And then darkness begins to overtake light as we enter the darker half of the year.

We’re entering our busiest time of year here at Convivio Bookworks. Here’s a sampling of where you can find us in the coming weeks, as well as an invitation to join us in our Lake Worth Beach shop, and a special for everyone else who’s not in our immediate vicinity. (Lucky you if you’re in a place where it’s apple harvest time!)

AUTUMN DATES to SAVE
Once autumn rolls in, we start planning out our busy fall and winter pop-up market calendar… plus now we’ve got our own shop for events, too. Here’s what’s currently on our calendar for September and October: BOO BAZAAR is our official Hallowe’en Premiere Event at Convivio Bookworks on Saturday September 28 (11 AM to 8 PM) & Sunday September 29 (11 AM to 5 PM), with yummy homemade treats, great spooky shopping, and tarot card readings and fortunes told by the mysterious Madame Marie-Claire. The shop address is 1110 North G Street in Lake Worth Beach, FL 33460.

Then, we return to OKTOBERFEST MIAMI for the second and third weekends of October (October 11, 12, & 13 and October 18, 19, & 20). That’s at the German American Social Club in Miami. The American German Club west of Lantana in suburban Lake Worth holds their OKTOBERFEST PALM BEACH the same two weekends, and we plan to have a small tent there, as well. It’s their 50th Oktoberfest! Soon after Oktoberfest, it’ll be time for FLORIDA DAY of the DEAD at Esplanade Park in Downtown Fort Lauderdale. Please note that for that festival, our tent will be located at Esplanade Park where the festival begins, before it processes over to Revolution Live. As such, we are there earlier than other craft tents that will be at the second half of the event. Find our tent at Esplanade Park from 3 to 8 PM.

AUTUMN SALE ONLINE
At our online store we’re offering $10 off your purchase of $85 or more, plus get free domestic shipping. Just use discount code PUMPKINHEAD at checkout. We’re adding new items this time of year almost daily! You’ll find new items from Germany for Hallowe’en and Christmas, plus new Advent calendars and candles are coming this week, and we’re getting ready for Dia de Los Muertos, too, and our next shipment of specialty foods and candies from Germany and Sweden should be here by the first week of October. Lots to see! CLICK HERE to shop!

Our image for this first day of fall is a photograph of Gingko biloba leaves in autumn sunlight. The photo was taken by Franz van Duns in October, 2021 [Creative Commons, via Wikimedia Commons].

 

Sleepy Orange Cat Pictures

It was September 3, 2005––the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend––when Seth and I first met Haden, the Convivio Shop Cat. She was called Cheyenne when we first met, a name that never felt quite right for our feisty tomboy kitty, and eventually we named her after our Haden mango tree, since their colors were so similar. Most often, we just called her Kitty. She stole our hearts from the start and was the perfect cat for us, brimming with personality, and definitely of above average intelligence. She would always hang around while I was printing at the press, especially, it seemed, for our annual Copperman’s Day print. Though we did not want to, we had to say goodbye last year, on the 15th of September (a date I am keenly aware of as it approaches again this year). Seth and I, we still are lost without her, and still a bit heartbroken.

Last week, I found a few old unlinked pages from an earlier incarnation of our Convivio Bookworks website. One of them is titled Sleepy Orange Cat Pictures. We built the page in 2006. If you have a kitty you love, or if you miss a kitty that’s no longer with you, or if you just like pictures of sleepy kitties… we invite you to get to know our Haden a bit better. She is very young in these pictures; just a year or so old.

Gosh we miss that cat.

 

First of the Ember Months, or Your September Book of Days

It’s September –– equinox month and first of what I like to call the Ember Months: these closing months of the year that share mostly the same sounds as their names roll off the tongue: September, October, November, December. The seasonal shifts here in Lake Worth are subtle to be sure, but I can remember summers drifting into autumn in Maine and there is, in my experience, a distinct shift once September rolls in.

And no wonder. As the Wheel of the Year turns, we find ourselves today, on this First of September, just three short weeks away from the planet’s equinox, and once that moment passes, our Northern Hemisphere’s nighttime hours begin to overtake our daytime hours. It is our autumnal equinox. The nights will grow increasingly longer through the Midwinter solstice in December, at the tail end of those Ember Months. This is our time for gathering in. Our time for shifting attentions inward, to hearth and to home.

And so it is a new month and here is your Convivio Book of Days Calendar for September. It is a month for wine (Our Lady of the Grape Harvest, or the Nativity of Mary, on the 8th), a month for apples (Johnny Appleseed’s birthday on the 26th), and a month for angels (Michaelmas on the 29th… which then leads us to the Feast of the Guardian Angels on the 2nd of October).

In choosing a cover star for this month’s calendar, I’ve settled into the idea of apples. Our September painting, “Apple Tree with Red Fruit” by Paul Ranson, captures the apple aspect, plus the very golden hew of September. Oil on canvas, 1902, [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons.

AUTUMN SHOP!
You won’t believe all the great new items for autumn and the spooky season we have in our online shop and our brick & mortar shop. We’re pretty excited about what we’ve gathered for you. Plus, you may use discount code PUMPKINHEAD to save $10 on your $85 purchase, and get free domestic shipping, too. That’s a total savings of $19.50. Spend less than $85 and our flat rate shipping fee of $9.50 applies. CLICK HERE to shop; you know we appreciate your support immensely. And yes, you may use that $10 discount when you visit us in the store, too!

Our new shop is open on Saturdays from 11 AM to 4 PM, and by appointment, too (we’ll be happy to open for you). We’re located at 1110 North G Street, Suite D, Lake Worth Beach, FL 33460. From I-95, exit 10th Avenue North eastbound; make a left at the first traffic signal onto North A Street, then at the first stop sign, turn right onto 13th Avenue North. Cross the railroad tracks and turn right again onto North G Street. We’re a couple blocks down on your left side in a blue-roofed building. Plenty of street parking on G Street and there are a parking spots in our little parking lot, too. If our OPEN TODAY sign is out, we are open.

NEW! IN-HOUSE WORKSHOPS!
One of our goals for our new Lake Worth shop is to create a space that is about community and a place where you can come learn new things. Our first summer workshops series was a big hit, and there is one more workshop in the series yet to come: Instructor Kim Spivey will be teaching Exploring Monoprints on Saturday September 14.

DATES TO SAVE
Once autumn rolls in, we start planning out our busy fall and winter pop-up market calendar… plus now we’ve got our own shop for events, too. Here’s what’s currently on our calendar for September and October: BOO BAZAAR is our official Hallowe’en Preview Event at Convivio Bookworks on Saturday & Sunday, September 28 & 29, with great spooky shopping and tarot card readings and fortunes told by Madame Marie-Claire. Then, we return to OKTOBERFEST MIAMI for the second and third weekends of October (October 11, 12, & 13 and October 18, 19, & 20). That’s at the German American Social Club in Miami. The American German Club west of Lantana in suburban Lake Worth holds their OKTOBERFEST the same two weekends, and we plan to have a small tent there, as well. It’s their 50th Oktoberfest!