Lil Bit of Love

Pumpkin Condo

Squirrel Scare!!!

Squirrel Scare!! if you listen carefully amongst the brown, yellow, and orange fallen leaves, you can hear the patter of little feet. You can see a furry little critter with a bushy tail hopping along as if he...or is it a she..were looking for some goodies. Don't be alarmed because these cute furry creatures are just squirrels. Don't think you've gone nuts if they approach you for a treat. Beware..they do bite if you try to rub their tummies. I've overheard more conversations lately regarding these little creatures destroying property.They like to build nests in attics, chew on wood and anything that looks appetizing.I suppose this attributes to why people call them "pests." My parents had squirrels in their attic one time. You know what "skeered' those critters away..moth balls. Don't pay an Environmental Control company. to get rid of them....just visit a local Wally World and purchase moth balls. "Breakfast is ready," my father yelled. He thought I was still asleep but I wasn't. Instead, I was dreading eating that morning. Daddy had been hunting the day before. Slowly, I walked into the kitchen, gazed at the table and the tears began to flow. I told my father that he was a mean man because he had killed some squirrels and they wanted to live and have fun like he did. As time passed, my father stopped hunting and killing little creatures. I wonder if going to church had anything to do with his change of attitude about hunting and killing animals. He didn't attend church when I was a young child . In my teen years, we opened and closed the doors to our small place of worship. As for moi, I truly enjoy squirrel watching as much as I do bird watching.They may be a rodent to some of you but to me their cute ..squirrelicious..and I "ain't nutz."

Squirrel Facts

Squirrel's belong to the order "Rodentia", with 1650 species, it is the largest group of living mammals. It also comprises forty percent of all present day mammal species.

There are over 365 species of squirrels in seven families. They include the tree squirrel, ground squirrel, and flying squirrel. Plus many squirrel-like mammals such as the gopher, ground hog and prairie dog.

Squirrels are usually born in the early spring. The average litter consists of four. This varies with climate and location. A second litter can occur in mid summer, if there is an adequate food supply.

The squirrel's erratic path while crossing a street is an attempt to confuse the oncoming vehicle... thereby causing it to change direction..

Autumn Antics

>EQUINOX Two times of the year when night and day are about the same length. The Sun is crossing the Equator (an imaginary line around the middle of the Earth) and it is an equal distance from the North Pole and the South Pole.

SPRING EQUINOX: The first day of the Season of Spring - and the beginning of a long period of sunlight at the Pole. In the northern hemisphere: MARCH 20 (the Sun crosses the Equator moving northward). In the southern hemisphere: SEPTEMBER 22 (the Sun crosses the Equator moving southward).

AUTUMN EQUINOX: The first day of the Season of Autumn - and the beginning of a long period of darkness at the Pole. In the northern hemisphere: SEPTEMBER 22 (the Sun crosses the Equator moving southward). In the southern hemisphere: MARCH 20 (the Sun crosses the Equator moving northward)

Autumn Colors

We all enjoy the colors of autumn leaves. Did you ever wonder how and why a fall leaf changes color? Why a maple leaf turns bright red? Where do the yellows and oranges come from? To answer those questions, we first have to understand what leaves are and what they do.

Leaves are nature's food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots. They take a gas called carbon dioxide from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into glucose. Glucose is a kind of sugar. Plants use glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growing. The way plants turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar is called photosynthesis. That means "putting together with light." A chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color.

As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how thetrees "know" to begin getting ready for winter.

During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors. Small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along. We just can't see them in the summer, because they are covered up by the green chlorophyll.

The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in the fall. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves turn this glucose into a red color. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves.

It is the combination of all these things that make the beautiful colors we enjoy in the fall.



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Being A Pumpkin...

Being a human is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. He opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff-- including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see. This was passed on to me from another pumpkin. Now, it is your turn to pass it to a pumpkin. I liked this enough to send it to all the pumpkins in my patch. Happy Fall!