Boo!

Samuel as Darth Vader and Eva as a princess.



Samuel dressed up his pumpkin as Darth Vader also. The candle lights shone through the helmet. Very striking!



Eva's princess pumpkin and my spider pumpkin



Candy! Eva's bag became too heavy for her and I ended up carrying it for her half way through. She stopped trick-or-treating eventually and said she had enough candy and had me carry her the rest of the way. Samuel opted to try for a little more candy...And the funny part is that somewhere along the way someone gave Samuel a bag of Doritos and this bag, out of everything, became the coveted prize of the evening! Who knew?

frost

Wow! we had a frost last night. Wasn't I just talking about fall? The kids got out their hammers and went out to break up what ice they could find. The swimming pool water didn't freeze but the water in the sand box did. Samuel wants to put out little containers tonight filled with water so he has a lot of ice to break up tomorrow morning. This is one of the really fun parts of cold weather and the kids get up each morning to check on the ice!

seasons

What I like about the change of seasons is that they come on slowly. You notice small changes. Like one week there is no longer any zucchini in the produce basket. It begins to rain in earnest. They send green tomatoes and some cabbage and carrots show up and potatoes every week. Suddenly you need to find out what to do with two heads of broccoli and not six zucchini. Both go well with parmesan. The basil is gone but the marjoram still thrives. Thyme will last through winter, as will rosemary. I wonder why I haven't used any thyme for months except in tea and remember the cilantro- gone. No more swallows. Juncos appear. Geese circle 'round our neighborhood again. A bush out front turns red and the blueberry bushes turn red and orange and the oak across the street is glorious. Eva asks why I froze all of the berries and I point out they aren't growing anymore. Where did they go? Remember when the bushes were heavy with berries and we grabbed handfuls every time we went out front, every time we went anywhere in the car.

And then all of sudden it is fall. Our oak is bright red. Our maple is bright yellow. Driving down the street is a symphony of color. The next season is here! You are in it, in the process of the season. No longer wondering when fall will be here, remembering what that feels like, what that smells like. How the trees turn red and yellow and orange. But what RED and YELLOW and ORANGE. Nothing is like seeing it now, again, for the first time. The colors dulled in memory. Wondering about whether the rainfall determines the trees' colors like Grandma Spangler said. Knowing you can't double check, ever, if it was yellow in the rain or red. That is the other thing I like about the change of seasons. All of a sudden you are not in between two seasons, hot and cold, green and red, tomatoes and cabbage. You are in one and not the other. And then it starts again. Just when you are in one and not the other, you're moving into the next. No more persimmons. No more pomegranates. Satsumas! But that is for another time. In another month or two. For now, it is fall.

change of flowers

The kids and I planted some pansies and violets in the front yard. We were doubly inspired because we are reading The Secret Garden and they are so enthusiastic in that book about things growing and fresh air! We took off all of the mulch from the flower bed and added fresh compost and soil and then turned it all into the soil. I can't bear to dig up flowers that are still thriving even if I know they won't be in a just a few weeks so I left the begonias and the two alyssums (although one of them has been there for over a year at least, so maybe those two will make it through the winter). The impatiens were already dead and we took them out. I have to say that they did not thrive in that space and I may think twice next year (if I remember) and not plant any impatiens there. Begonias yes! The begonias and I have a symbiotic relationship. They grow well for me and I enjoy their growing! And I keep planting them year after year. And the aphids and the slugs leave them alone!



Here is Samuel turning the soil.



Eva bringing back the mulch after the flowers have been planted.



Eva said it was a great day to make leaf collections. She sets up little scenes with her flowers and leaves and plants...



A leaf collection and one in progress with flowers as well.

Surprise

Last night Samuel said he saw that there were candy canes for sale at Rite Aid! For several hours this morning he asked me repeatedly if a) I believed him that there were really candy canes for sale at Rite Aid already and b) if we could go get some. Finally I decided that going to buy some candy canes at Rite Aid was not the worst thing I could do today and we went right over to get them on the way to do another more tedious errand. I had the choice to be not only incredulous but also slightly disgusted, as is the usual response when they go about trying to market holiday goods earlier and earlier each year. It feels pretty good because then I can also feel righteous, you know, that sort of thing. This time, though, I saw something that might be more fun. I realized that this was the first time I had ever bought candy canes before Halloween. Right? Is that crazy? A for real FIRST! So I celebrated with the kids, with Samuel and really savored the experience with him. I didn't have a candy cane because, well, I don't really like candy canes that much. But Samuel does. And boy did the car smell like Christmas! And just two days until Halloween! What a celebration!

Tonight Samuel caught one of our cats, Maxwell, catching a bird on our patio. Lucky for the bird, but not for Maxwell, we put Maxwell inside and I got a shoe box and started to help the bird. The bird was lying on the ground on his side and there were lots of feathers all around. I called the Audubon Society and they had just closed. I listened to their handy recording on what to do if you find an injured bird. It was just enough information and just long enough for me to get myself back to basics and figure out how to help the bird. To my surprise, when I turned him right side up, he clasped onto my finger with his claws and just sat there on my finger for a good while. He would periodically look back at me and then look down at my hand but he felt safe and clearly needed a moment to collect himself, near death experience and all. I sat with him like this outside near the bird feeder for a while, fifteen minutes maybe. Then I was cold and needed a sweater and a hat and I brought him inside in a shoe box (with a towel on the bottom). While I was inside I showed him to Eva who wanted in on the action and took a good look at him and asked if we could keep him. We just finished reading a book called The True Story of Stellina by Mateo Pericoli in which a woman in New York finds a baby bird on the corner of a busy intersection and brings the bird home to live with her in her apartment in Manhattan. The bird lived with them for eight years! Eva was inspired and here we had our own little Stellina story to try out! I convinced her (slightly) that the bird would be happier outside and that having three cats kind of made having a bird more difficult. She said, "but momma, two of the cats won't try and catch the bird." This is true. Magoo can't really see well enough to pose much of a threat to a bird and Agnes is, well, a bit on the heavy side to run fast enough to catch a bird. Such is the life of domestication. But Maxwell, well he is another story. He likes to catch birds and mice and he is not well fed enough to do it. It's his whole continuum kicking in. Nothing is quite as satisfying for him as catching a little frightened bird trapped on our patio. I don't blame him, I just don't let it happen if I can.

So Eva and I took the little bird back outside, who by this time had attempted to fly inside the shoe box. When we got outside I went back over to the bird feeder and reached in to pick him up and this time he flew! All the way to the fence! I went over to check on him and he looked at me a little. Then he flew to the apple tree. We went inside and I went to check on him again in the apple tree about ten minutes later. When I got too close he disappeared. I knew he was safe when I couldn't fine him anymore. A very satisfying ending to an almost sad story. I was so tickled that he sat on my finger and for that long! I will look for him at my bird feeder- or at least in the apple tree!

Let's see, anything else? Oh, I had more fun today when I checked out the Saturday Night Live soundtrack from the library and listened to it while I cleaned the kitchen! There are some good songs on there and there is no way you won't enjoy yourself!

And we made pomegranate sorbet/granita. It is so worth it! Just so you know, it takes about two full pomegranates to make a cup of pomegranate juice. It is good stuff and it goes quick!

Halloween Fixin's

Ok, so we have two official Halloween costumes. Samuel is going to be Darth Vader and Eva is going as a fairy princess. We finished off the Vader costume today with a new light saber that pops out with a zoom and lights when you push a button. Just the thing for Lord Vader on Halloween night.

We went to the pumpkin patch today and I wish I could say that we had pictures of our friends Kate and Jack. And yet, the camera batteries died in mid-shot. No panoramic views of pumpkins in the field with Mt. Hood in the background, no pictures of the cute little train we rode on, through a haunted tunnel, to the pumpkins and no photos of the boat we rode back on, or the dragons that popped out of the water, for that matter. And of course, no pictures of Kate and Jack, and they posed so well for me. Next time! There were also kittens, a chicken, goats, and pigs. We had a blast and came home with a couple of pumpkins and food left over from our picnic.



Here are the pigs at the pumpkin patch!




And a lovely shot of Samuel (being a very serious knight) and Eva in her new hat I just finished for her!

"Dr. Smith, don't worry, everything will be alright if you just keep your spirits up."
-Will Robinson to Dr. Smith on the last episode of Lost in Space

I couldn't have said it better myself!