Remember, Remember

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd (or by God's mercy*)
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring. (Holla*)
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
And what should we do with him? Burn him!

It’s the 5th of November which has three significant points of note for me. First and foremost, it’s my grandmother’s birthday. She passed away just a few years ago but I remember it every year and think about all the things I loved about her. Most of those memories are from my early childhood.

We would stay at her place for a week or two at a time in the summers when I was a kid and I would play with my G.I. Joe, Transformers, Super Powers and Secret Wars toys in a large group of potted plants. It was jungle adventure all the time. I loved that. (I was a bit of a loner as a child)

Secondly, our family dog Max came home with us on the 5th of November. We loved that dog! He was awesome—the uber hunt! But yeah, he died too. I still love Max.

And lastly (and why it makes the blog) is that it’s significant to my favorite comics series I’ve ever read. “V for Vendetta” has a weird publishing history that you can read about on Wikipedia all you want.

I’ve only read it as a collected volume and it’s an odd read. I’ve never thought it was a gripping read from page 1. In fact, I can’t even tell you at what point I get sucked into it. What I do know, is that I start it, and I’m ready to put it down and then—somewhere in between page 1 and page 30—I can’t conceive of putting it down.

I’ll get into what I love about the book in another blog sometime. This one is about the day.

So every 5th of November I take time out to remember not just Guy Fawkes, but my grandmother and my favorite dog too. No matter what else is going on, I always end the day with good memories in my head and a great book in my lap.

Andy