What does October Mean to You?

October is here! That means fall, pumpkins, cornstalks, and Halloween. Down on the farm, my nephew and his buddies will open the Haunted Forest, which he does each year. Hundreds of people come out to ride through the pine forest which was once a Christmas Tree farm my sister Gay and I sweated over each summer. When my nephew bought it, he let the trees grow up, and now he works one month a year and makes more than we did, I think. I've never been through the Haunted Forest which was Santa's Forest years ago, but I hear that the creative ways used to scare the pants off all who enter is beyond imagination. My friend, Sue, said she took her young grandson and he was terrified and she was just as scared.

I was never much for Halloween. When we were kids, we did not trick or treat. When you live on a farm, the neighbors are few and far between. At school we drew pumpkins and colored them orange. We cut out black cats and gave them green scary eyes. But that was it. Sometimes the  teachers gave us Halloween candy which I never liked.

But all that changed after Barry and I met the Clarkes, Linda and Dick. This couple held the best Halloween parties ever. They transformed their house, their property and themselves into a fantasy of what you imagine Halloween to be. They became characters so real I didn't recognize my friends. Linda became the ugliest witch, long nose, pointed hat and fingernails that frightened me.

Her green face completely hid the pretty woman I knew. Dick, a tall serious man for the most part, opened the door to greet us. Who was this ugly hunchback with wild  hair and distorted features?

Igor and the Witch with her Cabbage Patch doll

Here they are again, another party, another year

Not to be outdone, Barry found a mask that became the basis for the character he created. He dressed in overalls, packed on a paunch, and developed a voice for the old man he became when he put on this mask. We  went to  the party together, but once there we separated. He came in after I  had been there a while. No one knew who he was. He stayed in character all evening  and those of us who knew him had the most fun watching him fool his  friends as he introduced himself as Lonzo Carp.

Carrie Council, my niece, and Lonzo Carp aka Barry Beall

The best outfit I  ever wore was cut-off jeans and a tee shirt with the words Barry's Old Lady on the back. The cut-offs emphasized my best feature, my long legs. Barry and I went to that party as a motorcycle couple, Hell's Angels type, wearing chains and leather, and boots. Dick said a few years ago that he still remembers me in that Motorcycle Mama costume. That makes me smile. (I asked them to dig out these old photos for me to post.)

Glenda And Barry dressed as members of a motorcycle gang

Now my favorite things about October do not include my birthday on the 22nd, not Halloween or parties or trick or treat. My favorite thing about October here in the mountains is the crisp dry air, and the leaves--the oranges, reds, yellows, golds, and all shades of each that brighten every day;The colors that decorate all the store entrances.

It is a time when I enjoy driving around the countryside, seeing doorways garnished with pumpkins, scarecrows, and corn shocks. Festivals with country music and clogging, vendors selling canned jellies and jams, wood carvings, and home made aprons, occur every weekend. Apple butter and gallon jugs of cider gleam in the sunshine on make shift stands along mountain roads.

What does October mean to  you? Got any good October memories? Share them with us in Comments.

How Can We Not be Thankful?

Fall at my house in the NC mountains

We have enjoyed the raining of red and gold along my street and postcard views along every curve in the road. How can we be anything but thankful and happy to live in this glorious place?

Blue Ridge Parkway in Fall

First Day of Spring and I start with the flowers

Mother loved roses and red was her favorite color.

Forsythia is finally blooming at my house. I heard some local girls say that they never liked "yellow bells" because when their mom disciplined them, she cut a long limb off the forsythia bush, stripped off the leaves and gave the children "a good switchin.'

It is certainly nice to get up to a clear day after all the rain. My forsythia is finally in full bloom. We are up about 2300 ft above sea level, and our flowers come out a little later than those down in town.My tulips are not blooming but soon will be. I get the fever this time of year. I want color. I want flowers. I spent a long grey winter waiting and now I can't wait any longer.
At Home Depot down in Georgia, I came upon some beautiful red geraniums in hanging baskets. Barry and I love red geraniums. They are the only flowers we have on our deck that last all summer, bloom and bloom until the first freeze. But best of all, they do well if I forget to water them for a few days. We say they were meant for us.

We require plants that take care of themselves. Knockout roses are hardy and need little care. We have two Knockout Rose beds, one in front and one in back.

My desire this spring is to have more native plants. I accidently discovered I have wild blueberry bushes on the edge of the woods in back. And in Rocky's yard, I learned that the neat bush with the unusual blooms is called Heart's a Bustin. I also find we have some kind of native holly plants on our property.

With woods on three sides of the house, I'd like to see more plantings for the birds. We have a bluebird box for the pair that come each spring and they often come back later to raise a second family.

Our hummingbirds loved the salvia I grew in a pot under the feeders last year. I will do more for them this year.

On my drive home today, I passed this meadow in front of a single cabin sitting in the glow of setting sun. Although fall is all around us, the grass is green and as fresh as spring time.

Pretty colors near my house, along my road I travel every day.

Late afternoon on my street. Fall is fading in western North Carolina. We've already had our first snow. I cherish each day I can see these mountains where I live. From my deck, from my yard littered with gold, and from the road into town, I drink in the beauty I see as though each day were my last.