Seasonal signs

Hi. Thanks for visiting. Are you starting to feel All Hallow's Eve in the air just yet? We are. Starting a few days ago as our current weather system blew in, many of the clouds had an other worldly look to them.

strange cloud formation     © harrington

According to The Cloud Collector's Handbook, they're probably some variant on mamma (mammatus). The only things missing are screeches, cackles, brooms and witches. Maybe later this month. Yesterday's CSA share included one of the cutest little pumpkins we've seen in awhile. It's a pie pumpkin that can also be used to fix spiced pumpkin butter, which I think looks interesting but didn't much impress the better half. I may have to devote part of a day to trying to make that myself. Meanwhile, back at the front entrance, we're looking seasonal with two orange pumpkins plus one pale, ghostly, green and one white pumpkin, all for jack o'lantern carving.

four jack o'lanterns to be         © harrington

Speaking of jack o'lanterns, did you see the really cute (or gruesome) blue squash faces a few days ago on the Inhabitat site? I'd love to be able to carve like that or to write like Carl Sandberg with this timely poem.

Theme in Yellow

By Carl Sandburg

I SPOT the hills
With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
And I am called pumpkins.
On the last of October
When dusk is fallen
Children join hands
And circle round me
Singing ghost songs
And love to the harvest moon;
I am a jack-o'-lantern
With terrible teeth
And the children know
I am fooling.

Thanks for listening. Come again when you can. Rants, raves and reflections served here daily.