You think I know about nothing but cats? Ha! I can literary with the best of ‘em. Watch this: No sun – No moon
No morn – No noon –
No dawn – no dusk – no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease, No comfortable feel in any member –
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees, No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds!
November! Take that!
Poem by Thomas Hood (1799-1845)…seems to be a bit over-the-top about how awful November can be, since the month sometimes boasts perfectly lovely–and deceiving –“Indian Summer” days, but of course, he was writing in London, where the smoke from coal fires started in earnest right about then, blotting out just about everything natural outdoors.
We’re not so badly off as all that but after a remarkably mild and colorful Autumn, the switch is definitely noticeable.
We’ve got through All Saints and All Souls and Election Day (first Tuesday after the first Monday in November), but there may be repercussions for that last one. May be? There certainly will be, no matter how it turns out. Anyway, we’ll have Veterans’ Day on the 11th (“If you want to thank a soldier, be a citizen worth fighting for.”), after Sadie Hawkins Day on the 7th, for all of you who remember the Al Capp comic strip “Li’l Abner”. The Old Farmer lists Indian Summer on the 12th and hints at “the S word” right about now and so does the TV weatherman. My nephew out in New Mexico sent pix showing the first of the 7”-8” of the stuff that they had…followed by temps in the 70’s. Later on, you could celebrate the signing of the Mayflower Compact–just to get primed up for Thanksgiving, you know.
Thanksgiving is likely to be a bit unusual this year. We may be trimming the guest list as much as trimming the turkey, since packing the house full of family coming in from God-knows-where, after having been in contact with God-knows-who and everybody taking off their masks to slurp up the gravy–not a particularly good idea. Snow seems to be ready to begin in earnest in the middle of the month.
Trick-or-Treat Night/Halloween was a hoot this year but not quite like any other in recent memory. The word going around was all about how to do the seasonal giveaway in a safe manner–put out individual treat bags, chuck ’em down a chute, zip line little baskets from porch to outstretched paws, pitch softball-style to waiting “beggars”–above all else, don’t spread more than simple good cheer. So, I got an inspiration (which will probably exacerbate my tendency toward hoarding and keeping all sorts of things that “might come in handy”) on how to do this passing out of candy without getting “up close and personal”. There was a no-longer-in-use screen panel down at the basement door which looked to be about the right length. There was a plastic trough for hanging wallpaper down at ACE Hardware that would fit across the end of the screen. There was a whole boatload of individually wrapped candy & stuff in a plastic tote. I made a scooper out of an empty cider jug from Monroe’s, balanced the screen end on a front porch stool at the bottom of the steps, with the top of the screen at the top of the steps, put the trough under the lower end of the screen and –Presto! I could scoop up a bunch of candy, pour it down the screen, have it land in the trough in all its sugar-laden variety and the munchkins could pick out their own treats (“One of anything you like.”) while nobody got in anybody else’s face (or virus stream). Worked for me. I even had one or two remarks about how “cool” the arrangement was. The cider and doughnuts went pretty well too. It really was chilly; two hours was quite enough to be out there on the porch. About halfway through I heard one bag-toter plaintively call to parents, “Can I go get in the car now?”
The street was more lit up than it has been in some time. There were folks out sitting around fire arrangements. There were all sorts of lighting scenes. Music wafted down the street at one point. The Y was handing out goodies too. The traffic was all but non-existent until almost the end. It was a good evening.
Wonder what the buzzards up on the water tower thought of the whole thing. They would have made an interesting addition to the decorations. We might not have even noticed them. Maybe they were there. A couple of those kids looked kind of funny…you know, the feathers.
