October 31 - This IS Halloween!

Jack Skellington - a fictional character and the main protagonist of the motion picture Tim Burton's, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Jack Skellington is a skeleton known as the "Pumpkin King" of Halloween Town, a fictional world oriented solely on the holiday of Halloween. Normally, he is dressed in a black suit with thin white stripes and a bowtie designed to look like a bat. He was based on the legend of "Jack the pumpkin king."
He has a pet ghost dog named Zero. A zombie-like rag doll named Sally is his love interest. In the film, he inadvertently finds his way into Christmas Town and becomes infatuated with the holiday, bringing it back to Halloween Town for its denizens to partake in. However, not really understanding the "point" of Christmas, they twist it into a celebration of the macabre rather than a season to be jolly, effectively ruining Christmas.

Happy Halloween!
Halloween is a tradition celebrated on the night of October 31, most notably by children dressing in costumes and going door-to-door collecting sweets, fruit, and other treats. It is celebrated in parts of the Western world, most commonly in the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Puerto Rico, and with increasing popularity in Australia, New Zealand, as well as the Philippines. Halloween originated as a Pagan festival among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain with Irish, Scots, Welsh and other immigrants transporting versions of the tradition to North America in the 19th century. Most other Western countries have embraced Halloween as a part of American pop culture in the late 20th century.

October 31 - Bat Bundle

BatBundle - In the fall, many species of temperate bats gain weight in anticipation of winter and hibernation. This strategy is triggered by a combination of day length, temperature, and food availability.

October 30 - Muskrat

Muskrat - (Ondatra zibethicus) a large aquatic rodent native to North America, and introduced in parts of Europe. Muskrats live in wetlands, ponds, lakes, marshes, and river banks, hence the nickname "swamp bunny". They are very good swimmers, using their tail for propulsion in the water. They are found in Alaska, Canada, the United Stands and Northern Mexico. While much wetland habitat has been eliminated due to human activity, new muskrat habitat has been created by the construction of canals or irrigation channels and the muskrat remains common and wide-spread.

MidnightSunset - There is perpetual darkness for at least a portion of the fall and winter months at the North Pole, where the sun does not fully rise from the autumnal equinox to the vernal equinox.

October 27 - Tundra Swan

TundraSwan - (Cygnus columbianus) aka Bewick's Swan, named after the engraver Thomas Bewick, who specialized in illustrations of birds and animals. Tundra Swans breed in the Arctic, across northern Russia from the Kola Peninsula east to the Pacific in Alaska and Canada. Populations breeding in eastern Russia winter in Japan and China; and those breeding in Alaska and Canada winter in the coastal USA. Their breeding habitat is wetlands. The female bird lays 4 to 7 eggs in a mound of plant material on a site near open water. The pair build the nest and defend a large territory around it. They pair for life, and their cygnets stay with them all winter; they are sometimes joined by offspring from previous years. In summer, their diet consists mainly of aquatic vegetation, eaten while swimming. At other times of year, they also eat cultivated grains in open fields. They have a high pitched honking call. According to National Geographic, when migrating these birds can fly at altitudes of nearly 27,000 ft.

October 20 - Mountain Quail

MountainQuail - (Oreortyx pictus) a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World Quail family. It inhabits mountainous chapparal areas of the Pacific west of the United States and the Baja peninsula Mexico. The female typically lays 9-10 eggs in a simple scrape concealed in vegetation, often at the base of a tree or shrub, usually close to water. The chicks are precocial, leaving the nest with their parents within hours of hatching. In the late summer, fall and winter, the adults and immature young congregate into family groups of up to 20 birds.

ScatterHoard - Some squirrels disperse their food among many hiding places to ensure that the entire year's supply will not be lost should another animal find one cache.

SquirrelNut - Squirrels mark nuts with their scent by licking the nut or rubbing it on their face. The procedure makes the nut easier to locate later.

October 12 - Red Maple

RedMaple - (Acer rubrum) One of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern North America, ranging from Lake of the Woods on the Ontario/Minnesota border, east to Newfoundland, south to Florida, and southwest to east Texas. Red Maple is widely grown as an ornamental tree in parks and large gardens, except where soils are alkaline or salty. In parts of the Pacific Northwest, it is one of the most common introduced trees.
Red Maple is the State Tree of Rhode Island.

October 10 - Autumn Leaves

LeafShutDown - Shorter days and falling temperatures signal many plants and trees to withdraw valuable chlorophyll from their leaves, revealing the yellows and reds associated with waste products that have built up in the leaves over the Summer.

October 9 - Fox Sparrow

FoxSparrow - (Passerella iliaca) This large sparrow's breeding habitat is wooded areas across northern Canada and the west coast of North America from Alaska to California. They nest either in a sheltered location on the ground or low in trees or shrubs. These birds migrate south on the west coast and to the eastern United States. They forage by scratching the ground, which makes them vulnerable to cats and other predators. They mainly eat seeds and insects, also some berries.

Acorns - Oak trees begin to produce acorns when they are about twenty-five years old. By the time they are eighty, they can produce a couple of thousand acorns a year.

October 7 - Harvest Moon

Harvest Moon - The full moon that appears nearest to the autumnal equinox, which occurs on or about September 23rd. This moon is also known as the Wine Moon, the Singing Moon and the Elk Call Moon. About once every four years it occurs in October, as it does this year, depending on the cycles of the moon. Many cultures celebrate the harvests with gatherings, festivals, and rituals that are intricately attuned to the Harvest Moon. It is claimed by some that the Harvest Moon seems to be somehow "larger" than other full moons. The human eye sees a low hanging moon as being larger than one that rides high in the sky. This is known as a moon illusion, because the image of the moon in the sky is always the same size.

FullFallMoons - The moon appears fifty minutes longer each day on average, but near the equinox it rises 10 minutes later than the previous day. This produces several consecutive nights of nearly full moons and perhaps 100 hours of light.

October 5 - Red Throated Loon

RedThroatedLoon - (Gavia stellata) the smallest member of the loon or diver family. The most widely distributed diver, it breeds in northern Eurasia and Arctic Canada. It winters over a much wider range on coasts and on large lakes. This species, like all divers, is a specialist fish-eater, diving over 25 feet to catch its prey. Although loons are very clumsy on land, they are able to walk longer distances. It is even able to take off directly from land, as the only species of divers who can do this.

RedLeaves - Anthocyanins give leaves their red color and also act as a form of protection, allowing the tree to recover nutrients from the leaves before they fall off.

October 4 - Saint Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi - (1182 - October 3, 1226)

He founded the Franciscan Order or "Friars Minor". He is the patron saint of animals, merchants, and the environment. Many of the stories that surround the life of St Francis deal with his love for animals.

It is said that one day while Francis was traveling with some companions they happened upon a place in the road where birds filled the trees on either side. Francis told his companions to “wait for me while I go and preach to my sisters the birds.” The birds surrounded him, drawn by the power of his voice, and not one of them flew away. Francis spoke to them: “My sister birds, you owe much to God, and you must always and in everyplace give praise to Him; for He has given you freedom to wing through the sky and He has clothed you…you neither sow nor reap, and God feeds you and gives you rivers and fountains for your thirst, and mountains and valleys for shelter, and tall trees for your nests. And although you neither know how to spin or weave, God dresses you and your children, for the Creator loves you greatly and He blesses you abundantly. Therefore…always seek to praise God.”

The Peace Prayer of Saint Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.