Halloween is one of the busy times of the year in the River Cities. We truly go all out. We decorate our houses, golf carts, and our bodies for Halloween. The restaurants and bars and businesses are more crowded. Crowds in costumes fill the Circle. Like the Howl-O-Springs event with the haunted house tent created by Jorge Calil and The Pelican Playhouse. Also like A Night at The Mansion Under The Stars at the Curtiss Mansion. Extravagantly set for Halloweeners. Did I just say Weiner? Halloween stems back from a Celtic festival in Ireland and England marking the end of the harvest. The Celts believed that on the night of October 31st, the barrier between the living and the dead...

The grass gets cut till the yards are done. Surely this cannot be fun. You start early and finish late. You even wack against the gate. Without a grin, you make sure every blade gets trim.   The sound is strong. Cats and dogs hide. Birds can't chirp as your mower glides. Row by row, like solving a puzzle. Your face is covered by a muzzle.   Your machines are what produces the clatter. You must yell if you choose to chatter. A necessary chore, like a hair cut. You press on despite being stuck in a rut.   Squirrels stare, what is that sound? As they munch on a nut till it hits the ground. Busy, busy, lots of yards around. Your bark is louder than my hound.   Appointments are set. Our needs are met. You rumble on,...