Fall
“I was drinking in the surroundings: air so crisp you could snap it with your fingers and greens in every lush shade imaginable offset by autumnal flashes of red and yellow.”
– Wendy Delsol
“Come, little leaves,” said the Wind one day, “Come to the meadows with me and play. Put on your dresses of red and gold; For Summer is past, and the days grow cold.”
– George Cooper
“I find autumn leaves are at their most beautiful when they’re being raked by someone else.”
From sendflowers
“I can smell autumn dancing in the breeze. The sweet chill of pumpkin and crisp sunburnt leaves.”
– Julia Schindler
Columbus Day – October 8
‘‘Over half a millennium ago, Christopher Columbus — an ambitious navigator native to Genoa, Italy — set sail for new horizons…. Though his first of four voyages across the Atlantic did not end at his desired destination of Asia, Columbus’s adventure reflected the insatiable thirst for exploration that continues to drive us as a people…. Though these early travels expanded the realm of European exploration, to many they also marked a time that forever changed the world for the indigenous peoples of North America…. and as we pay tribute to the ways in which Columbus pursued ambitious goals — we also recognize the suffering inflicted upon Native Americans and we recommit to strengthening tribal sovereignty and maintaining our strong ties.’’
– Barack Obama
Farmer’s Day – October 12
“We have neglected the truth that a good farmer is a craftsman of the highest order, a kind of artist.”
– Wendall Berry
“The farmer has to be an optimist or he (she) wouldn’t be a farmer.”
– Will Rogers
“A good farmer is nothing more or less than a handy man (woman) with a sense of humus.” – E.B. White
“My grandfather used to say that once in your life you need a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman and a preacher, but every day, three times a day, you need a farmer.”
– Brenda Schoepp
“Some of us grew up playing with tractors. The lucky ones still do.” – Corncorps
Teen Read Week – October 7-13
“A capacity, and taste, for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others.”
– Abraham Lincoln
“Reading—even browsing—an old book can yield sustenance denied by a database search.”
– James Gleick
“The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.”
– Ursula K. Le Guin
“Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.”
– Mary Schmich
“If you are going to get anywhere in life you have to read a lot of books.”
– Roald Dahl
“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”
– Joseph Addison
Adopt a Shelter Animal Month – October
“Saving one dog will not change the world, but surely for that one dog, the world will change forever.”
– Karen Davison
“After we bring food home from the grocery store…Dogs must think we are the greatest hunters ever!” – Ann Taylor
“My fashion philosophy is: If you’re not covered in dog/cat hair, your life is empty.”
– Elayne Boosler
“If you are lucky, a dog or cat will come into your life, steal your heart and change everything.” – Cherle Conrad
“Adopt. If you can’t adopt, foster. If you can’t foster, sponsor. If you can’t sponsor, donate. If you can’t donate, educate.”
– Unknown
Halloween – October 31
“Where there is no imagination, there is no horror.”
– Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
“We were a family that made our Halloween costumes. Or, more accurately, my mother made them. She took no suggestions or advice. Halloween costumes were her territory. She was the brain behind my brother’s winning girl costume, stuffing her own bra with newspapers for him to wear under a cashmere sweater and smearing red lipstick on his lips.” – Ann Hood
“Halloween is an opportunity to be really creative.”
– Judy Gold