1 November—Not that it matters, but following All Hallows’ Eve is All Hallows’ Day, a real religious holiday, also known as All Saints’ Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, Hallowmas, and, in the Roman Catholic Rite, the Solemnity of All Saints. Don’t worry, I’ll leave it to priests to disquisite on solemnities. More important, I won’t subject you to any of those tiresome Halloween-themed promotional puns that retailers delude themselves into thinking potential customers don’t find utterly stupid. But here’s an inventory of what makes November a spooktacular month:

Adopt a Turkey Month
Aviation History Month
Special Interest
Banana Pudding Lovers Month
Bladder Health Month
COPD Awareness Month
Diabetic Eye Disease Month
Family Stories Month
Gluten-Free Diet Awareness Month
Library and Information Services Month
Lung Cancer Awareness Month
Manatee Awareness Month (remember when Humphrey Bogart played Dugong “Duke” Manatee in The Petrified Forest? Well, it’s not spooktacular.)
Military Family Month
National Adopt A Senior Pet Month
National Adoption Month
National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month
National Children’s Month
National Consciousness Month for Punctuality and Civility (they always go together)
National Diabetes Month
National Entrepreneurship Month
National Epilepsy Awareness Month
National Family Caregivers Month
National Family Literacy Month
National Fun with Fondue Month
National Gratitude Month
National Healthy Skin Month
National Home Care and Hospice Month
National Impotency Month
National Inspirational Role Models Month
National Life Writing Month (autobiographies and ego trips)
National Long-term Care Awareness Month
National Marrow Awareness Month (as in transplants, not to eat)
National Native American Heritage Month
National Novel Writing Month
National Peanut Butter Lovers Month
National Pepper Month
National Pet Cancer Awareness Month
National Pinhole Gum Rejuvenation Month (for receding gums)
National Pomegranate Month
National Prevent a Litter Month (spaying and neutering)
National Raisin Bread Month
National Repair Done Right Month (if only . . .)
National Rice Awareness Month
National Roasting Month (food, not celebrities)
National Scholarship Month (follow the money)
No-Shave November
Pet Diabetes Month
Stomach Cancer Awareness Month
Traditional and Alternative Health Month
Worldwide Bereaved Siblings Month

And an inner-city Litchfield traffic update: No backups to speak of Monday and Tuesday. Because there was no traffic to speak of. Just the usual five or six vehicles in each direction impatiently waiting for the historically inappropriate, mistimed, probably unnecessary Traffic Light on the Green to allow them to proceed.

And a ConnDOT update: Still haven’t had even the courtesy of an acknowledgement from anybody there. They must be sitting on the sides of the state’s poorly maintained roads collecting the legendary pay and benefits most Connecticut state employees get for doing nothing.

And a Gaza update: Sure, a cease-fire would be nice and peace would be nicer; and, failing that, allowing humanitarian aid to civilians would be a step in the right direction. But that would be playing into Hamas’s filthy, evil, blood-soaked hands. Israel can’t be expected to relent in its defensive offense in the Gaza Strip because it’s a sad fact that Hamas corporately and severally can never be trusted to do the right, honorable, decent thing. As Israel has learned the hard way throughout history, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

So only Hamas terrorists and their supporters and suppliers can be held responsible—and reviled and condemned—for any and all so-called collateral damage to, among others, civilian hostages and human shields, as well as all manner of civilian real estate that’s been commandeered for Hamas military abuse. And only Hamas terrorists and their supporters and suppliers should be made to suffer the consequences of their genocidal hostilities . . .