A tradition like no other! Happy Beggars' Night!

Des Moines has a tradition that researchers say no other town in the United States does. It started in the 1930s when the city listed the names of vandals every November 1 and the list kept getting longer and longer. This was disturbing to everyone - what to do?

In order to stem the trouble being caused on Halloween, the city’s parks and recreation director, a woman, said that homes should turn on lights and do the things we all know about on Beggars' Night/Halloween, but she also said adults shouldn’t give out treats to children unless the children either told a joke or did a trick like a cartwheel or sang a simple song.

It began to work and within a few years, the vandalism problems were significantly reduced.

This is still a tradition around Des Moines. Some other towns in Iowa have apparently gotten in on it, but typically you'll hear people from other towns say they'd never heard of it before.

I think it is genius. This is the reason I turn on my porch light.

I give less candy to any children who won't participate. I first offer a simple joke they can repeat. Then I suggest something like can they cross their last two fingers instead of the first two. If they won't do it...well, the trick's on you. I know, I sound like an evil person, don't I?

Well I am not. I do not torture little children with this. It's the older kids I pick on. Hey, if they can't join in, they shouldn't be out trick or treating!

This year is different for me, though. I get to take my niece out trick or treating. If we get back to my MIL's house in time, I get to hand out candy. Then I can put my evil plan to work. [rubs hands expectantly]

Last Wednesday night on the way to church, I asked the kids if they had their jokes ready. They did. Poor Ernest, though. He got the interrupting cow joke wrong and said:

Knock, knock
Who’s there?
Cow
Cow who?
Moo

What I had for lunch, uh huh.

I like reading what other people are up to in their lives. I read running blogs and eating blogs as well as running/eating blogs, but I don’t really care for diet blogs. It just isn’t that easy for me to fit myself into a category as a blogger and then gently insert myself into their established relationships with one another. I run. I walk. I eat. What’s the problem?

Some people photograph everything they eat all day and post it on their blogs, like GreenDogWine. If you want to be introduced to oatmeal in a brand new way, give her a try. She’s very nice and very healthy.

And oatmeal: yum.

If I photographed my food today, you would see a photo of Rotella’s Pane di Casa no-fat added bread as toast with butter. I wasn’t prepared, so you’re missing out.

The bread is good, but it gets sticky fast.

Yes, I said sticky. It gets sticky. That’s how I know the loaf is beyond its best days. It's just regular old bread from the grocery store and as such, it has to be really old before mold grows. Isn’t that gross? Fresh bread (real bread) really should be moldy pretty fast. On to lunch:



That is an Italian Night Club sandwich from Jimmy Johns with added hot peppers and a huge …well it was once huge… whole pickle as a side dish. I didn’t say “no dressing,” which I always have before. Alas, I paid the price and the bread got soaking wet in parts. I hate that. Also unusual, I didn’t say “easy on the mayo” and will I ever run, swim, walk or whine those calories off of my fabulous selfness?

No.

Nature Notes Thursday and Signs of the Season

Visit Michelle at the eye-catching Nature Notes Thursday Meme for incredible photos of the season. Check out this week's milkweed pod photo. You'll be glad you did. It looks so soft, you may try to touch it with your fingertip.

Here in the Midwest, it has gotten cold. Don't these photos look cold? I think they do, but I was there. I can attest to it being cold. Brrrrrrrrr

Don't let the green grass fool you!

I like this log and I hope it is home to many creatures.

Lastly, here is a photo of the fireworks tree. The homeowner was in the yard gathering leaves and like a professional stalker, I took a third photo of his house. My photo/description may be down at the local cop shop by now.
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For the last two weeks, I have had a goldfinch visit the windowsill of my office many, many times a day. This week, so far, he hasn’t made an appearance. The new thing this week is that it is windy (when does that stop?) and the leaves are not falling to the ground, they are being blown into and against my window with enough flittering speed that when I am not actually looking straight out my window, my brain thinks I have incoming birds.

I have jumped more than once. Maybe this constant threat is why my neck is a little stiff. In five years, I have had two birds fly right into my window and scare the stuffing out of me, so this isn’t that far-fetched.

Grace in small things

1. Soaking rain

2. The smell of warm dirt

3. Gentle breezes (b/c right now it's all Canadian blast)

4. Sitting on the porch swing

5. Fluffy white clouds

Irish class

My first Irish study group met last night. I was so relieved to move ahead after working toward it. There are a few hitches, like the publicized location and the actual location have changed. That could be confusing for newcomers. But we had seven people show up besides myself and they learned how to say:

Welcome-Failte

How are you?-Conas ta tu?

I'm fine-Ta me go maith

Bye!-Slan!



I had a lot of fun. I hope they did, too.

My Holiday to-do list

Juice over at All Things Juice put up a holiday to-do list and I liked the idea. I want a list of my own! Christmas is different every other year because one year we stay in Iowa and the next we drive to Ohio. So here goes.

Feel free to play along.

1. Make my own Christmas cards. I already did this two weeks ago. I just need to begin collecting addresses now so I can get them written out and then in the mail the weekend of Thanksgiving.

2. Have the kids over to put up the Christmas tree if they want to again this year. Let's face it, Aaron wanted to, but the others watched Elf and laughed themselves silly. Note: have better snacks. They're so polite and last year I wasn't prepared and I gave them fruit and carrots. This year I will junk it up a bit.

3. Find out if Perry Como made a Christmas album and buy it on Amazon.

4. I'm stealing this idea, but I love it: Take a walk on Christmas Day.

5. Go to church or mass. What with Christmas not on a Sunday this year, I'm not sure what the one church in Dayton will offer, but mass is always nice. When we are in Iowa, we always have church on Christmas Eve and that's always very nice.

6. Play a Wii tournament with my mom and my niece and my brother and anyone else who comes along.

7. Visit the cemetary to see my grandparents and my father on Christmas Day.

8. Spend as much time with my niece as possible on Thanksgiving morning without thinking about how tired I might be or the fact that after dinner we are driving to Milwaukee. I just want to focus on her and play with her or go for a walk with her.

Going to work tomorrow

I have to go back to work tomorrow and then tomorrow night I am leading my first study group for my Irish learners. I must be crazy! I feel like I should be studying and cramming for it, but then again, I only know what I know and maybe someone else will know more. That's OK. I will report back after the class and we'll see how it goes. Well, I am sure it will go well. I go pretty easy on myself for stuff like this. I was hard on myself for too many years in my life and I'm learning to let it go. Slan!

Sunday's bike ride

To prove that I can balance on a bike without killing myself, I took this photograph. It's very useful to show you that I was, indeed, biking. As if you doubted me.

I surely could have doctored this picture, but I wanted you to get the picture. Literally. This is what it looked like - grey and dull and cold and cold and cold...

I stayed back to take this picture and then raced ahead so I could stop sometimes. I did see and hear a big flock of wild turkeys.

There was work going on and the road was completely ravaged by these machines. We went across the beach in the sand and brush and picked up burrs.

I know many people don't like snakes, so ... sorry. I don't necessarily like snakes, but I do like living things. Look at those eyes!

He wasn't happy to see us. I just regret that I didn't get that tongue in the photo. It was incredibly and surprisingly bright red.