AND NOW IT'S NOVEMBER

This morning -- the weather changes

BAM-BAM-BAM

If it hadn't been Halloween, I might have been a little frightened, but I knew it was trick-or-treaters, so I answered the door without trepidation. There were three of them, one much taller than the other two and costumed head to foot as a red, furry Elmo. Frankly, I was so overwhelmed by “him” that I really didn’t notice the other two. “Be careful on the steps,” one of the short ones said to Elmo, taking the words right out of my mouth. (I wasn’t sure Elmo could see very well.)

And that was it. That was the extent of our Halloween “guests.” Had I known at the time, I might have been more generous with our limited supply of candy. We don’t invest in much Halloween candy because we seldom get trick-or-treaters at this house.  

But Mike and I have our traditions. We had chili and pumpkin ice cream dessert for supper. Mike settled down to watch the World Series while I tried to crochet but eventually fell asleep.

Anyway, it’s over, and today Mike will take down our outdoor decorations and I will put away the witches and their huts and alter the indoor display to reflect harvest and Thanksgiving themes. I look forward to it. According to my email messages from handwork sites, I have just 8 weeks until Christmas, and that means my fictional grandmother, “Ina,” has to get cracking. In fact, I’m in panic mode because it’s just not much time for Ina to accomplish her work. Ina is the star of my advent story, and it's a month away, much of the preparation must be done in advance.

On October 29, 1935, Great-aunt Bertha wrote from her home at Gilbert, Idaho, “This a.m. we found the ground white and an inch or two of snow and still coming at 9:00 a.m.” She goes on to say that there’s also a light dusting of snow at Orofino. On the same date this year (Sunday), Mike remarked that he had hunted in shirt sleeves. You never know at this time of year, but the weather lady out of Spokane says things are changing now. In fact, they’re predicting snow over the Cascades in a day or two. Gone are the warm afternoons.

On the house side of the shed

On the back side of the shed

Well, we’re snug in our little house. Mike advised me this morning to keep the fire in the little stove burning, pointing to the woodpile full of pine. I pointed out that this is a new way of thinking for me because in the past we’ve tried to conserve the wood. He counters that this year we have plenty of it, though, and it burns quickly. It should be used, he says, and it's easier to keep the fire going that to continually re-start. Well, it's fine by me -- AND, though we probably don't like to think about it, there’s plenty more where this came from, standing burned and rotting. KW