Columns

Time to start thinking about the upcoming holidays — to give thanks, wish for peace on earth and goodwill to all, and maybe get a cool gift or two. Then we’ll turn the corner on a new year, with an adios to the old and hola on the new — hoping and praying for a  tomorrow that will be even better than the days before.

Here at the Optic, we’re planning several things. First, I’ll provide an overview, then I’ll tell you how you can participate.

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Here’s what we have planned:

One of the greatest features of my new toy, my iPad, is the ability to add “apps,” that is, applications that do different things. The one I like but can’t control is named, simply, “Population.”

It resembles a car odometer. It’s digital, and the columns showing units and tens run fast. Last Friday, the last time I checked before now, the count was 6,9099,587,471. The time was 5:33 p.m. Watching the counter moving, I timed it for exactly one minute, during which the estimated population climbed by 148 people.

An old and intriguing legend is that Spanish settlers, pursued by hostile Native Americans, took refuge and starved atop El Cerrito de Bernal, a small butte rising 7,031 feet, about 12  miles southwest of Las Vegas. As a result, since anyone can remember, the small mesa has been called Starvation Peak.  (Cerrito means small mountain, and the first written reference to El Cerrito de Bernal was in  1794,  in the description of the San Miguel del Bado land grant, which designates the butte as the grant’s northeastern boundary.)

This week is the best time of the year. Other seasons are great, but nothing beats the first weeks of fall.

Halloween features long nights and short days, and the probability that imaginations become bizarre. Most people like to be scared, and Halloween’s a perfect occasion for that.

Here’s why this season is great:

Things change. We leave the house early, often needing to scrape our windshields. We don a coat because of the icy car seats, but by the time we arrive at work, it’s time to turn on the AC.