Book of Days

If you, like me, enjoy tuning in to the mysterious nature of Hallowe’en, read on, for I’ve got two good things to offer you in the coming days: a live witching hour event on Zoom, and a spirited tale to read. (Oh, and a sale… so I guess that’s three good things!)

The CONVIVIO DISPATCH for HALLOWE’EN
First, the spirited tale. Before there was the Convivio Book of Days blog, there was the Convivio Dispatch from Lake Worth. I began the Dispatch, o so many years ago, as an email marketing tool… but soon realized that in that form it didn’t interest me all that much. And so instead of telling subscribers about things they could buy, I began writing about my neighbors. The Convivio Dispatch soon evolved into a vehicle for stories, most of them set here in Lake Worth, and mostly true. (I think of the Dispatch as an exercise in creative nonfiction; an analysis of past Dispatches has shown that approximately 80% of each is nonfiction. What remains is up to you to classify.)

Be that as it may, what you need to know is that the Convivio Dispatch is a whole other animal from this Convivio Book of Days blog, and that each autumn, I am given the honor of writing my favorite thing each year: the Convivio Dispatch for Hallowe’en. A spirited tale always, sometimes ghostly, sometimes just wrapped in mystery. I’ve been working on this year’s Dispatch for weeks now, and in the coming days, we approach Hallowe’en, and then it is time to send the Hallowe’en Dispatch out into the world. It arrives as a simple email in our subscribers’ inboxes. Simple. No website, nothing to click. You simply pour yourself a cup of coffee or brew a bit of Irish Breakfast (sweetened, with a touch of cream), then sit, open your email, and there it is.

This year’s Hallowe’en Dispatch revolves around a coin that Clarence, the Bridge Tender, found last month on one of his walks near the lagoon after September’s King Tides. My neighbor, Earl, is pretty certain it’s from the Santa Margarita, the legendary Spanish galleon that went down off our coast in a hurricane in 1595. She’s never been found, the Santa Margarita, but Earl has had some legendary experiences of his own involving the ship. So many mysteries, so close to home, yet this year’s Hallowe’en Dispatch takes you from my ancestral homeland in Southern Italy to Mexico, Manhattan, Lima, and points beyond (perhaps the Great Beyond).

To get the Convivio Dispatch for Hallowe’en, you’ll need to subscribe. It’s free, it’s easy. Subscribe by clicking here. The Dispatches are few and far between, I promise, so you won’t get a lot of clutter in your inbox, and of course you can always unsubscribe, too, just as easily.

BOOK ARTS 101: WITCHING HOUR
And now for that live Zoom event:  it’s my (mostly) weekly live chat about the book arts and craft and design with the Jaffe Center for Book Arts, usually on Wednesdays at 3 PM Eastern, but this week on Thursday evening at 8 PM Eastern. We’re looking at some of the spookier books in the Jaffe Collection, and it felt more proper to do this once night had fallen. We’re calling it Book Arts 101: Witching Hour, and to watch the live webinar, you’ll have to register ahead of time by clicking here (also quick and easy to do). Should you not be able to watch live at 8:00, video from the broadcast will be posted by Friday morning to the Jaffe Center’s Vimeo Channel.

These mysteries usher in a time of remembering our beloved dead––all who have come and gone before us. It’s a time I’ve always treasured, from when I was a little boy, and still do to this day. I hope you’ll join me on this journey from Hallowe’en to Martinmas, through the Dispatch and Book Arts 101, and through the Convivio Book of Days blog, too, as I share these stories and the ways my family keeps the channels open as we shift our thoughts toward winter.

*

The photo above is of a house on Lakeside Road here in Lake Worth; one of many celebratory homes Seth and I found tonight as we walked home from downtown. I’d be remiss, too, not to mention that we are indeed running a sale right now at the Convivio Bookworks website. Typically this time of year you’ll find Convivio Bookworks at the local street fairs for Dia de Muertos in Lake Worth and Fort Lauderdale, but this year they both are canceled. So for now, an Autumn Sale to encourage you to stock up on the artisan goods you may want for the coming dark months: artesenias from Mexico for Dia de Muertos, advent calendars from Germany and advent candles from England, Christmas goods from Germany and Sweden and Italy. Here’s the deal: spend $75 and you’ll get $10 off your order plus free domestic shipping when you use the discount code STREETFAIR at checkout. That’s a savings of $18.50 in total. Or, as always, free domestic shipping when you spend $50 (no discount code required for that). Thank you for supporting small businesses and artisans––you are supporting real people and real families when you do, and your transactions really matter. Shop here now. We all really appreciate it.