Happy October to Wooly!

How is everyone doing? Wooly is in an especially good mood for so many reasons! First, October is finally here and it is Wooly’s favorite month. Wooly is an October birthday baby and she celebrates all month long! She also thinks Halloween was created especially for her. Why else did all of her birthday parties have a Halloween theme when she was younger?

How old is Wooly? Well, age is just a number and there's life in the old dragon yet; but her birthday cake is in danger from all of the candles on it!

October is a great month, not just because of the birthday thing, but also because Autumn has finally arrived. I know, meteorological autumn supposedly starts on September 1st and “official” autumn (the autumnal equinox) begins on September 21/22/23 (depending on who you ask). But for Wooly, autumn doesn’t really begin until October 1st. 

The leaves are now changing from green to brilliant shades of yellow, orange, red & brown. The blasting heat of summer has receded and we can finally turn off the air conditioning and open the windows. Bad insects (mosquitoes, flies, garden pests, ticks, etc.) are gone. The orb spinner spiders arrive and decorate fences and doorways with their intricate webs.

Summer heat & humidity gives way to crisp, cool days and cooler nights; just enough to wear long sleeves and snuggle under a blanket at night….but not cold enough to have to turn on the heat. The sky is a brilliant, clear blue, compared to summer’s haziness. The scent of wood burning in fireplaces or outdoor fire pits fills the air.

And, of course, October starts the best time of the year…the Holiday Food Season! Segueing from birthday cake (chocolate, of course)

to Halloween candy to hot chocolate, pumpkin pies, Thanksgiving meals,

Christmas cookies, New Year’s Eve champagne and all of the wonderful food in between, Wooly does not watch her diet during the last 3 months of the year! Not that she’s much of a stickler during the other 9 months either… Wooly is definitely a fluffy dragon!

As the weather turns cooler, it also means that the summer garden is waning. Plants like tomatoes, eggplants and peppers have been pulled up. Cool weather veggies, like broccoli, spinach, cabbage, lettuce and radishes are still producing. Apples are being harvested.

Garlic will be planted on Wooly’s birthday. And the flower & herb beds are tidied and mulched for winter. Will this finally be the cold, snowy winter that has been predicted for years? Wooly’s bank account hopes not because of increased electric bill charges. The rest of her would love to see a lot of snow! As a Florida kid, Wooly never saw snow until she was in her teens. Poor Wooly!

October makes it more fun to play with wool again. Nothing makes Wooly sweat more than knitting with a lap full of whatever project she’s working on during July or August. However, curling up on the couch, knitting the Temperature Blanket she’s been working on all year with a cup of hot chocolate beside her and music playing in the background? Awesome!

We at the Original Wooly Dragon hope that you and yours has an awesome October!