Thankful Sunday, November 1, 2015

I am thankful for a rose.

(I didn't have a camera with me, so this picture is from earlier in the summer.)

I was visiting a friend yesterday morning and we were in and out of her house and around her yard several times. But it wasn't until I was leaving that I noticed a pink rose blooming near her front door. The rose bushes were big, full of thorns with only a few leaves. But right there on the top of one of them was a lone, beautiful, pink rose in bloom-- complete with the delicate rose scent.

And for the surprise of that rose, I am thankful.

Halloween Candy Favorites

Last years Halloween Candy. Reese's-overall favorite, KitKat-Montana's favorite,
and Tootsie Rolls--New Hampshire's favorite

Halloween is in two days and recently on the news they have been reporting about favorite Halloween candies. (Wanna guess the top choice in the country? Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.) However, what I found more interesting than the overall results was the favorite Halloween candy for each of the fifty states. Influenster polled 40,000 people and compiled individual state statistics.
 
The results showed a wide variety of preferences but basically chocolate and sour candies predominated. The exception to this was candy corn which as the most picked candy with five states choosing it. And what I found very interesting was some candies that one group may consider the "yucky" candies such as candy corn, Sweet Tarts, and Laffy Taffy were top picks for others.

A couple of states stood out to me. Arizona's choice was Toblerone bars. Wow, Swedish chocolate for Halloween? That seemed kind of fancy to me to give out in numbers, but maybe there's some kind of history to that that I don't know. West Virginia's choice was Oreos. They were the only state that chose cookies. Not sure where this comes from either. I never got any Oreos in my bag when I was growing up there and I don't think my mother has ever handed any out. But times do change.

According to the survey, if I want to give out the favorite candy in Maryland, I need to get some Almond Joys. But first I have to figure out the age old question? Do I want to give out a candy I like so I can enjoy the leftovers? (That would certainly be Almond Joys or most other kinds of chocolate). Or do I give out something I don't like so I won't eat the leftovers (That would be Whoppers--Kentucky's favorite .) I think the answer to this question will probably be determined by how hungry I am when I go shopping Halloween morning.

What kind of candy do you like? What's your candy buying strategy?

A Second Look--October 28, 2015

The remnants of Hurricane Patricia are coming today bringing with them a lot of rain. It's amazing to me that a system that started in the Pacific could make it all the way across the country over the varying topography and still have this much rain left in it. Weather and climate are such complex things, I'm not sure we'll ever totally understand them. Or at least that's how I felt after I took a class about them in college.

The leaves are at their peak now and color abounds. Such a beautiful sight everywhere you turn. Since dark is encroaching the day much earlier, I haven't had as much time when I'm at home to do Second Looks. In fact, I didn't go to the back 40 of the yard at all this week. However, I will share with you a few pictures on trees in the front part of the yard as they are showing their colors. There is about a week's range in the pictures and you can see how much the colors changed during that time.

Also, when we visited a local park on Sunday, I talked to the naturalist there about the curious-looking spider I showed you recently during another Second Look. With her help, we determined that is was a lattice orbweaver spider. Although the internet is very helpful with these questions, talking to a real person is even better.

Here are a few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

Female downy woodpecker.

Lattice orbweaver spider (Araneus thaddeus) The white thing on it's back is actually its abdomen. Once again, I've never seen anything like that.

A Walk in the Park

"This is my favorite time of year--I think I love it because it is so beautiful and it's so short-lived--I have to really take the time to enjoy it because tomorrow the leaves may all be off the trees!"

The other day Kris made this comment that got me thinking. The leaves are close to peak right now and any day, a rain could come and wash all of the colors away. So Ward and I decided it was time to take a hike at a local park. Thanks for giving us the nudge we needed, Kris. We enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Here are some pictures from our walk today.

Monarch Way Station. This area is maintained specifically for monarchs. The white "flowers" are seed heads from their host plant, milkweed.

This pond was created to teach about pond habitats.

This bench was made by local school kids from trash and earth. The details were really interesting.

We watched activity along the lake seeing fishing, kayaking, and good old-fashioned throwing rocks in the water.

After hiking around the lake for a while, we headed up the hill to find another trail.

Ward wanted to explore this trail because it winds up close to where he works.

One of the interesting sights along the way.

We crossed a stream.

We saw the foundation of a mill built in 1810. The mill was used both as a saw mill and a grist mill. 

Ward walking along the boardwalk through the swampy area.

Back in the parking lot, we saw this tree being photographed many times including several family portraits.

Thankful Sunday--October 24, 2015

I am thankful for fuzzy socks.

Year round I sleep with socks on. Sometimes in the summer, I wake up and take them off in the middle of the night, but I need my socks and warm feet to fall asleep. Every year, I get myself another pair during Christmas clearance for $1. They are fuzzy and roomy with good elastic--just about perfect as far as I'm concerned. For these socks and their help to me in getting a good night's sleep, I am thankful.