Fall is definitely in full swing here! The wind has kicked up today, and the leaves are floating back and forth across the lawn. The red/orange colors are my favorites, and as I drive around, I love seeing the houses where this palette is more vivid than the others. The season also brings Halloween, and I always get a kick out of the parade of trick-or-treaters who stop by our house. There are always some creative costumes! This is the first year that no one in our house is trick-or-treating, which is making me rather sad. But time marches on!

Well, the wind is whipping outside today, and I am humored by the folks on our block who have landscapers blowing their leaves, which is an exercise in futility. The way I see it, the leaves have been whipped up and down the street all day, and I am fairly sure at this point that no one has a leaf-free lawn. I have this handy-dandy little weather forecaster on my desk, and I see no temperatures to be above 60 for the next five days, thus my theory holds true. No matter how warm the fall is in the Northeast, by Halloween the temperatures plunge and the heat goes on. This is the first Halloween in almost 20 years that no one here at the house is dressing up for the holiday. I have not even pulled out the large lighted pumpkins that usually fete the place; will have to get something up by Sunday lest the trick-or-treaters be disappointed! While no one is dressing up here, there are requests for the black bean chili (I do not like red kidney beans) that I make each Halloween. Nice to know SOME tradition remains.