The Third Cup

Seasonal changes

Hi neighbors. Fall is in the air and so is Halloween. Have you seen all the decorating possibilities for this holiday? There are lights, interactive electronic play things, stringers, gift wrap, cards, gift bags (which can double as trick or treating bags) and even trash/leaf bags that look like jack-o-lanterns.

Although it has been a while since I had much interest in Halloween, having a grandchild gets the goblins out and the hobb-goblins hobbling along. I still haven't decided what candy to buy this year.

Bill, my son, usually wants me to buy only the kind of candy he likes so he can eat the leftovers. I've found out over the years though that if I get the candy too early there may not be any leftovers, and maybe not enough to give out to trick-or-treaters.

I am not attending any parties this year so I probably won't get a costume. I certainly won't go trick-or-treating! Or maybe I will.

Last year I took my granddaughter, AKA Alyssa the giraffe, out and around a small neighborhood in Iowa.

I don't think she has ever been on a hayride; but she's still a little young for that anyway…and I'm a little too old maybe.

October is such a great month though. The wind changes, the temperatures drop, it rains.

There was a gardening expert on television the other night who said it was too late for the rain to help trees produce those beautiful fall colors we all enjoy. He explained that it was the 'sugar' in the leaves that made the rich colors and without enough moisture; the leaves will most likely just curl up and die.

Sounds like a way to consider our own senior years I suppose. Do we stay colorful and flexible to the last? Or dry out, shrivel, become brittle and dull? Maybe human lives need the right staples at the right time to remain vibrant. Perhaps we should take a look at our lifestyles each season to see how we are synchronized with the whole of nature.

My children are always reminding me I need more exercise. On my last trip to Iowa Jennifer gave me a pedometer to measure how many steps I take a day. The diabetes experts suggest at least 10,000 steps a day. My daughter tells me that's 'maintenance' only and to actually lose weight, I would have to shoot for at least 15,000.

Wow! That's a lot of steps! So far my daily high has been 9,878 steps -- far from my goal.

But, I'm working on it. I guess being a writer has its downfalls…like too many hours in a chair looking at a computer.

At least the flowers are staying bright and colorful. My daughter had bought a "butterfly" plant that was supposed to attract butterflies. She put it on her patio this summer and it did bloom nicely.

The only thing it attracted though was bees!

I remember as a child we had a peach tree by the front porch. Those spring blossoms attracted bees too, and no wonder! They did smell delightful. That poor peach tree was lucky to produce many edible peaches though. I don't know which acts were harder on the tree -- the boys all picking the green peaches to chuck at each other or my father twisting off a tiny shoot now and then for a peach switch to chase the boys who were pulling off the fruit.

I imagine that tree has long since been gone. My brother went to Wichita a few years ago and said the old neighborhood school building had been turned into first a nursing home and then an office building.

Of course at the time we were there the school was surrounded by single dwelling houses. It's no longer residential and the houses are gone, replaced by businesses and industries.

I've never made a trip back there and most likely won't. I think I prefer to remember it as it was.

So the seasons go and things change around us. Maybe the older we get the more aware we become of the more subtle changes the seasons represent.

If nothing else, October means it won't be long till the election madness is over. At least the debates have been interesting. Still, I'll be happy when "being the president" is a job to work at and not a goal to obtain.

Until the next time friends remember: enjoy each season as it comes. They all have unique features to relish. Even having elections so close after Halloween offers something.

I'll be checking trick-or-treaters to see if any are wearing Bush or Kerry masks.