Guy Fawkes Night

Monday was Guy Fawkes Day. It is a celebration in honor of foiling an attempt by Guy Fawkes and his cronies to blow up the Parliament building in 1605. They were hoping to kill James I and his Protestant buddies at the opening of Parliament that day. Guy and his friends were Catholics and they were concerned, apparently rightly so, that Catholics wouldn't get a fair shake in James' England. So they set about planning to blow up the Parliament building. One of the guys got a little worried that in addition to blowing up all the mean, spiteful Protestants, they might catch a Catholic or two. So he wrote an anonymous note warning one of the noblemen of the plot. They found Guy Fawkes in the basement of the Parliament building just in the nick of time - allegedly just as he was to light the fuse with his torch. After torturing him for a few days, Guy was hung then drawn & quartered. Ouch.

Over time the event has been celebrated with huge bonfires, burning Guy in effigy and all kinds of fireworks. There are fireworks displays in just about every big city or neighborhoods. Also, you can buy fireworks in the grocery or department store. Real fireworks, m-80s, roman candles, rockets etc. It is amazing the fire power of these fireworks you can buy right next to the milk. For the past few nights, our neighborhood has sounded something like a war zone. It would be the perfect time to shoot someone; it would be hard to distinguish the sound from the fireworks. Our neighbors, 2 doors down, put on quite the show. About 30 minutes of fireworks, just outside our back window. Look how close.





In a way, Guy Fawkes was one of the first terrorists. It may explain this country's deep seeded fear of Catholics. To this day, the heir to the British throne is forbidden by law to marry a Catholic. He can marry a Hindu, Buddhist or Jew but no Catholic. C'mon England, it was over 400 years ago! How long can you hold a grudge?