Not being a “Summer Person” at heart and with this past summer being without a doubt the oddest in memory with the COVID-19 virus on the loose, it is finally time to utter one of my favorite phrases of all —

Happy Fall, Y’all!!

Happy October!  Happy Autumn!  October is the perennial gateway to my very favorite time of the year — Autumn and the Holiday Season!

What are your favorite things about Autumn? Do you have any special Autumn memories?

Here in our neck of the woods, besides getting back into boots and blue jeans these are a few of our favorite things — Sweaters, Changing Fall Leaves, Crisp Mornings, Chilly Evenings with Woodsmoke in the air, Listening to the honking of Migrating Geese overhead, Raking Leaves and Hot Chocolate, Apple Butter, Cider, Pies, Warm Muffins with Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice!

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While not having posted regularly here for a spell attending to some health issues (not COVID related) the past few months, my story character Little Red Bear and I have nonetheless kept very busy preparing several new blog features and items you will be seeing very soon. Some things we have been working on —

We are especially proud of a new page created — “Nature Speaks About Environmental Conservation, Climate Change, and Mother Earth.” A series of short “Nature Speaks” videos covering major conservation and environmental topics, it is perfectly suitable for children, as they more than we will determine the future. We invite you to visit and share the page with others!

“The Ozarks Ostrich Crisis” was a serialized story originally shared on Facebook in 2014. The story received such a positive reception that encouragement from readers actually led me to shortly thereafter create this Writing Blog, where it has been shared as a Free Read. Serving as the Resident Manager in a seniors community shut down by the COVID-19 virus, Little Red Bear and I dusted the story off and began sharing it once again with residents on a weekly basis, with the intention to provide some light reading and mental diversion to folks confined to their apartments thru the initial virus surge. As the weeks went by the story was edited and revised, with several new characters and storylines added. By the end, the Ostrich story had more than doubled in length. The weekly story ran for 17 weeks, during and after which I was encouraged by readers to publish it as a book to be available for everyone in a single volume. So Little Red Bear and I will be back to work on the editing and review process to make sure the weekly installments flow seamlessly from beginning to end, targeting the spring of next year for the “Ozarks Ostrich Crisis” book release.

With the ongoing support of Patrons to the site, Little Red Bear and I have been working over the past couple of months to develop a “Learn The Alphabet” section for young visitors. We are calling it “Little Red Bear’s Animal Alphabet Coloring Pages.” Each letter will have its own page and feature artwork showcasing the particular letter, with two additional letter coloring images available for download, one easy for the very youngest and the other a bit more detailed and challenging. With part of this site’s focus on Wildlife, Mother Nature, Conservation, and the Environment, each letter will be nature-oriented, featuring different animals, marine life, etc. as illustrated in the summary image alongside, along with information about that particular creature. The images are being secured thru a paid Shutterstock subscription to ensure that there are no licensing, copyright, or sharing issues down the road. New letter pages will be added as funds are available to acquire more images. Would you like to help support the project or perhaps sponsor a page?  The cost of the three images for each page is $10.00.  Anyone can lend a helping hand merely by joining our Patreon Community for as little as $1.00 a month,  or choose to Sponsor a Letter Page(s) directly, in which case the sponsor’s name will be included on the page unless they wish to remain anonymous. Here is a sample of what is to come — Little Red Bear’s Animal Alphabet Coloring Pages — “A” is for “Ant”. 

Little Red Bear is hard at work gathering new recipes for Halloween treats and goodies for the next “Happy Halloween Spooktacularly Good Recipes Special III”. In the meantime, you are invited to check out our previous Halloween Recipe Specials — #1 and #2. Some frightfully delicious treats in those!

The next collection of Little Red Bear adventure stories, “The Second Holler Over!” is more than halfway finished now with a release planned for the late spring of next year. The next book will feature a different and exciting new format.

At the same time, we are working to make Red’s first stories, “The Adventures of Little Red Bear: The First Holler!” available in a large print format soon, and are working to make Red’s holiday story, “Pine Holler Christmas”, available in both regular and large print formats for the coming holiday season.

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We are so excited about the remainder of the year! Here is a sample of just a few of the things and what is ahead for you here in the coming weeks . . . .

• 101 Things To Do In The Fall
• Time To Clean Out Bird Nest Boxes In October
• Autumn Activities & Nature Scavenger Hunt
• Happy Halloween Spooktacularly Good Recipes Special III
• How To Preserve Autumn Leaves and Clean Pinecones for Holiday Displays
• The Impact of Climate Change on Bird Migrations
• Creating An Autumn Nature Leaf and Other Family Art Projects
• And  Many More!

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This month I am sharing my original “Haystack Harry” short story with various senior communities in the area. “Haystack Harry” is available on the blog as a Free Read.

I invite you to check it out for the Autumn Season and share it with your family and friends.

Little Red Bear has agreed to once again make himself available to respond to readers’ questions and comments in his “Ask Little Red Bear” segment, a very popular feature in the past. If you or a youngster have a question about something dealing with Nature or the Environment, please just drop him a note here. We aren’t so big on relationship questions, but if you don’t have anywhere else to turn please feel free to send them in and we will do our best to try and help you out. In any event, Red promises to provide honest and factual information in response to all questions, and lacking the same will do his very best to make up something fun and interesting for you.

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In addition, something Little Red Bear and I are a little proud of, Red’s first collection of stories “The Adventures of Little Red Bear: The First Holler!” was submitted to the Kirkwood Public Library for review — and Was Accepted!

The book passed all review steps, procedures, and readings, and is available now thru the Kirkwood Library and connected library system. While not on the level of Ernest Hemingway perhaps, the reviewers determined it wasn’t on the level of Joe Btfsplk either and approved the book for display on their shelves and in their catalogue. Request your local library to carry it, too!

I do not enter contests or competitions, not seeking that kind of recognition, but must admit passing muster with the library was kind of cool. Sort of like an official “Okey-Dokey!” from people whose opinions we respect and value. Maybe you should give “The Adventures of Little Red Bear: The First Holler!” a look, too.

So, that is just a few of the many things we have been working on and have on the way while sequestered and quarantined by the COVID-19 virus the past several months.

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In the seniors’ community where I reside, no one is allowed out of their apartment without a mask. Since the beginning. So totally understand “mask fatigue”.

Nevertheless, it is what we must continue to do to protect not only ourselves but also our families and loved ones.

Wearing a mask is simply the necessary and right thing to do at this moment in time, along with social distancing, diligent handwashing, and avoiding crowded places, especially as we all head back indoors with cold weather on the horizon.

Your encouragement and visits here mean a lot to Little Red Bear and me, so please — be vigilant and careful in the coming months. Experts across the board are predicting that the COVID-19 crisis will get a whole lot worse this fall and winter before it gets better.

We will do our very best to continue providing a positive-themed site of encouragement, education, information, and entertainment for you, and hope that you will join us as we enter our most favorite time of the year in the months ahead — Autumn and all the fun and joys of the Holiday Season!

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Thank you always for stopping in to visit with us!  Little Red Bear and I are pleased as raspberry punch to share the upcoming Autumn and Holiday Season with you!

So until the next time, we wish you and yours a delightful fall season with pumpkin spice and everything nice.

Happy Autumn! — Jim   (and Red!)

If you enjoyed this piece, you may also like — “I Will Greet This Day With Love In My Heart”  

(New Visitors — Welcome! To find out what we are all about here, please check out — “Welcome To My Writing Pages!” and “About the Blog, Jim & Little Red Bear” — and sign up to follow and be notified of every new post!)

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“For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad.” – Edwin Way Teale 

“Autumn leaves don’t fall, they fly. They take their time and wander on this their only chance to soar.”  – Delia Owens, “Where the Crawdads Sing”

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Meet Little Red Bear & His Friends —  “Once Upon A Time In A Very Special Woods . . . .”

                      “It’s the first day of autumn! A time of hot chocolatey mornings, and toasty marshmallow evenings, and, best of all, leaping into leaves!” — Winnie the Pooh

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