Celebrations

As winter approaches, people engage in celebrations. It is not easy to understand the meaning of that sudden frenzy. It begins with the harvest of big fruits. there are thousands around and they are placed in front of the houses, probably to boast about the crop. However, nobody eats them. They are too hard for most animals to rip open (I have only seen some ducks working at it) and their smell is not very appealing. By the same time, children in scary costumes get candy everywhere. Later, when it's too cold to get outside in disguise, humans start killing big birds and gattering to eat them (I love that tradition because we participate in the feast). People you have rarely seen before show up just for the food and then vanish as soon as they get full only to reappear after another circle of the seasons has been completed.
They don't like darkness. As the night subjugate daylight staying longer each time they feel threatened and create lights on their own. The fronts of every house and street are ablaze in a big cold fire and the trees are posted as guards of the light until the sun returns. For unknown reason they also kill trees. Enough of them to populate a forest. Sadly in the morning, the pungent smell of their blood comes as a reminder of the slaughter. Perhaps all this is a festival of the forest, perhaps is a sacrifice they offer for the morning to return. The families put the dead tree inside and hang glass balls, toys and even more color bulbs on them. Humans treat those things with respect and protect them, but as soon as the light returns, they are dismissed, considered an old annoyance and tossed in the streets. I was terrified when I saw this for the first time, thinking that I could shared that destiny. if you pay enough attention, you realize that almost everything among humans is dealt with in the same way. But we are exempt, forever sheltered in the pack. We don't like to kill trees and put instead a fake plastic figure. I seat underneath with Eloisa, and have fun watching how Jack or Elena play with it and waiting for the bag of treats they always reserve for us in the longest night of the year.