It’s fall, a different kind of Halloween, reasons to travel, and those finches (7 Quick Takes)

~1. Mixed feelings on fall~

It’s fall! The leaves are starting to change, and we have pumpkins sitting on our porch, all ready for carving.

I appreciate the wondrous beauty of autumn, but my family has experienced so much loss during this season that it always feels like a heavy time.

I also always feel a little like Grover in The Monster at the End of This Book when people are gushing about fall. Don’t they know what comes next? Winter! The cold, bleak starkness of winter when we all shiver our way through. And this year we won’t even have snow days off from school!

But I do enjoy the crunchy leaves and the beautiful trees and the sunny days.

~2. What happened to Halloween?~

Last Halloween our sons picked out spooky costumes for a full night of trick-or-treating. We walked the neighborhood as they ran to doors, knocking and ringing bells and collecting goodies.

At the time, I wondered how many more Halloweens would be like that, trick-or-treating through the neighborhood in costume—and especially with two parents trailing along behind.

This year we are not trick-or-treating (thanks to Covid), and I don’t think my sons—who are almost 11 and 13—are dressing up.

I get a little wistful realizing that 2019 might have been our last childhood Halloween here, and I didn’t even know. We will have new Halloween traditions, of course, and I will be fine, but I am having a Puff-the-Magic-Dragon moment thinking of how children grow up.

~3. They’ve got your goat~

I haven’t really grown up, though, because I want to bring a goat to my next virtual meeting. This website is wonderful and hilarious, and I am all ready to pick my meeting goat. You should choose a goat to visit you from Cronkshaw Fold Farm, too.

~4. But I really am getting old~

Oh, and my sister Maureen’s oldest child is applying to colleges! I’m trying to figure out how that is happening when I thought she was still 7 or 8. But I’m excited for her, too, and I plan to ship her care packages of root beer—unless she happens to pick a college in Baltimore (cough, cough), and then I’ll drop Berger Cookies off at her door.

~5. Will travel for bratwurst~

Remote learning can be rough, but there are a few things I appreciate:

• Not having to pack lunches
• Not having to worry about whether everyone got safely to and from school
• Overhearing the conversations during class. The other day I heard our fifth grader explaining to his reading specialist why he wants to go to Germany. “I want to eat a real authentic bratwurst in Germany. Have you ever had a bratwurst. My dad has a grill, and he makes bratwurst, and it’s so good.”

And I sit here and smile knowing that we are raising children who will choose travel destinations based on the food.

~6. A Finch Update~

I had hoped we would be able to leave our two baby finches with their parents until they were about six weeks old because that was what Google said. But last weekend Hermione started going after them, so we pulled her into a separate cage.

When Ron started acting the same way on Thursday afternoon, we moved him into the cage with Hermione.

I’m a little worried about the babies. They can feed themselves, but now and then they still ask Ron to feed them, even though he’s in the next cage over.

I hope they continue to thrive. They’re just so cute, and they’re already full of personality.

~7. And there’s more~

What’s that? You want to know whether we’re keeping the baby finches? I have casually suggested several times that we could try to find a new home for them, but no one here—except John—can imagine such a thing. They are our first babies, and we adore them, of course.

So, we have four birds in two cages, and now that Ron and Hermione are back together, I’m just hoping we can keep it to four for a while.

I see that nest-building look in Ron’s eye, though. So, we are keeping an eye on things. If we can keep them from building a nest, maybe they won’t have more babies too soon. Hermione is supposed to have time to recover. She’s already looking sleeker and healthier after a week away from her babies. In fact, she and Ron look like a cuddly little pair on their second honeymoon.

I am trying not to picture myself singing, “On the eighth day of Christmas, my finches gave to me eight downy finches….”

Read more quick takes on Kelly’s blog, This Ain’t the Lyceum, and have a wonderful weekend!

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