November Is Coming ;)
How could October have leave us so quickly? Today is the 27 of October. It is slipping away. As I step outside the smell of wood smoke is wafting through the cool air. The once green trees are becoming bare, and a few flakes of snow are drifting idly across the sky. The resident squirrel hasn't figured out that he's already thrown all of my walnuts out of the front-yard tree, and probably planted them in our new walnut grove. Either that or he's just tormenting the birds at this moment. I think I've cleaned up all of the walnut husks that the rascal left on my deck. I should have a 'squirrel naming contest'. I thought I would name him Henry and his lady squirrel Henrietta, but I have already used that name for our first turkeys. So? What's left? David and Thoreau?
I'm thinking that my pumpkins that I planted late, late, late aren't going to make it, and neither are my melons. We had only a few cucumbers, but they were delicious. Three of us kids (Old fuzzy, Youngest fuzzy, and myself) attended a Practical Farmers of Iowa conference several years ago. I have been a supporter of Seed Savers of Decorah, Iowa for years, and they had a booth at the conference. They were giving away a free packet of seeds and I couldn't decide which one I wanted to take home so I asked the vendor to choose one for me. He chose a 'MiniWhite' miniature cucumber. I thought to myself, 'that wouldn't have been my choice, but...'. Long story short, I loved those cucumbers. They are tiny salad cucumbers to be eaten whole as a bite maybe two bites. I have grown them ever since. Or tried to. Some years are better than most.
Some family members call me a pessimist. I don't know why, my mantra consistently has been, 'it'll be better next year'. Sometimes it is, but usually it is always a kaleidoscope. Each year a different pattern with some things doing well one year, and the next year other things doing well.
The chili supper is only a few hours away. It's time to hit the kitchen. I'm thinking on lemon-blueberry cheese cake and beets.
Update here on the chili supper. There were 27 in attendance—down somewhat from previous years. Some of the participants were stuck at work late, so couldn't make it, and some were just stuck at work. My Adorable cousin and her sister-in-law made the event, and of course were a hit with the crowd. Someone mentioned Adorable cousin and my infamous bike ride back in another lifetime, and she entertained us with her embellished account.
It happened in the late summer, I believe on a Friday or Saturday afternoon. We were planning on going to movie or some activity in the evening followed by going camping in a neighbor's timber over night. We were heading over on the bike to scope out the timber and find a spot. She's in the driver's seat, so to speak, and I'm riding on the back. We're singing lustily, 'camping tonight, camping tonight'. I'm sure there is a name for the tune, but it escapes me at present. We're going down a rather steep hill just north of the neighbor's house, when I realize I'm the only one singing. To set this in a bit more perspective, Adorable graduated from high school in the spring and is working at a hospital in the 'big city'. She's on her days off time and I'm on my week end from school. She's eighteen and I'm around fourteen/fifteen, in other words two dumb kids.
Riding a bike down a rather steep gravel hill can be a challenge at best, but riding double down said hill is worse than a challenge. The inevitable happened, and we were both scraped up pretty badly, but she was probably the worse off as she was in front. We made it back to her house, and her older brother, Mike cleaned up the mess. Her right arm he put in a sling, and bandaged her face so there was only her left eye showing. "How can I go to work like this?" She asked. "Don't worry, they'll send you home when they see how messed up you are," he said. But that's the rest of the story. (Continued in next letter.)
