I always know when Halloween is about to arrive. Sure, the trees are pretty much bare now, there is a nip in the air, by now the frost has gotten all of the flowers, and it is time to dig bulbs. A few pumpkins have appeared in my yard, thanks to my daughter, and there are many roadside stands with pumpkins for sale.
Even without those signs, there are usually strange things that begin to happen earlier in the month. Last year, it was a hole in the yard that tried to swallow up my riding lawn mower. I got another one this year but not quite as large. I am sure the stumps that were buried when the yard was bulldozed into shape are now rotting.
A couple of weeks ago I noticed that my decorative fence was lilting on the east side. Apparently the bottom of one of the posts was also rotting. I thought about putting a steel post behind it, and attaching the two. I am quite sure that would have sufficed; however, before I got a steel post in place, some windy days took care of the east side of the fence.
Now pieces of that half of the fence are scattered around on the side of the ditch, which was layered with rock. “Kind of looks like Halloween,” I thought to myself when I first saw it. More cleanup work to do in the spring, or whenever the grandkids and I get it done.
Meanwhile, back in the house, there were fruit flies. I know how they got started, as unknown to me, one of the potatoes had rotted in the bag I had in the house. While fruit flies are not uncommon in the fall, the number of them that were living here was very uncommon.
I have been learning a lot about fruit flies. They are fast and hard to swat. They must multiply faster than rabbits, and they are smart. Someone told me to put vinegar in a bowl, that they would go in there and drown. Mine did not drown. Perhaps they learned to swim. I saw them sitting on the edge of the bowl, but none were floating around in there.
Much as I dislike using a spray in the house, especially in or near my kitchen, I really had little choice. I was careful with the spray, and after a couple of applications they are nearly gone. Meanwhile, I make sure the peelings are out of reach of the little insects.
There is one more thing that usually appears this time of year: political commercials. Each and every one of them is wasted on me, as I decided long ago as to how I am voting, and there is no way I will change my mind.
This is the time of year that it is scary to watch local TV. Our world is often filled with uncertainty. Here is a Bible verse that offers me a lot of comfort:
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed…” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
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