Happy Autumn, Pumpkin Spice, and Everything Nice about Fall!

Living on the outskirts of St. Louis, Missouri, September can oftentimes feel more like Summer than Autumn, despite what any calendar says.  We do, however, usually receive a tempting tease or two of cooler Autumn temperatures during the month, and such was the case last week when daytime highs dipped into the mid-70s with nighttime lows in the mid-50s. (Temperatures given in the Fahrenheit temperature scale, of course, because living in the U.S. that is what we do it seems, the rest of the world and the scientific community with all their Celsius stuff be hanged.)

The air was cool and brisk. Morning walks were delightful. During evening walks, the faint scent of heavenly woodsmoke from a neighbor’s backyard firepit drifted thru the air. As anyone who has followed my pages here for a while is well aware, Autumn is far and away my favorite season of the year.

And now, as we are about to turn the calendar page to October, there is only one thing left to say —

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!

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 followed by Hot Chocolate, Apple Butter, Cider, Pies, Warm Muffins with Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice!

With Summer my least favorite time of the year due to various health issues it presents for me personally, I always view the advent of Autumn and its promise of the coming holiday season as my personal reward for having survived yet another summer’s onslaught of midwest heat and humidity.  Having survived once again now it’s time to run outside, do my “Falling Happy Leaves Dance” on the front lawn, and PARTY!

I don’t feel alone in this view, because I believe even the most casual observer would agree that Mother Nature must certainly agree with me as she decorates all the trees and hills in a riot of colors each fall. Mother Nature is partying right along with me!

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To help little ones and others to get into the spirit of the Autumn season, we have added a new collection of coloring images to the site — Little Red Bear’s “Happy Autumn Season” Coloring Pages!  Gather the little ones around and feel free to download, color, and share as many as you like.  Free of charge, of course. Little Red Bear is adamant about that. As he has stated so many times —

“It’s just not right to charge people for having fun, learning something, and having a good time. Gettin’ it free is most of the fun, anyhow!”

We hope you enjoy this new section, along with our collection of other fun and educational features here on the site.

So, what do you look most forward to in the coming Autumn period? Please do not be shy. Little Red Bear loves to hear what folks have to say, so please feel free to share your thoughts in the Comments section.

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While not having posted regularly here for a spell attending to some personal 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 new features we have recently added for the little ones include —

• Little Red Bear’s “Back To School” Coloring Pages
• Little Red Bear’s “Happy Autumn Season!” Coloring Pages
• Little Red Bear’s “Animal Alphabet” Coloring Pages (in progress and growing)
• Little Red Bear’s “Christmas & Holiday Season” Coloring Pages

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Here is a sample of just a few of the things we are working on for you to enjoy here in the coming weeks ahead . . . .

• 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
• Squirrel Proofing Your Bird Feeders
• All About “Pie Birds” and Holiday Pie Recipes
• And  Many More!

As the topics of Global Warming and Climate Change seem to dominate the news ever more each month as one disaster follows another, watch for more Nature, Conservation, and Environmentally-themed posts coming soon, as well.  As evidenced by the wildfires ravaging not only the west but also the world, the fuse is literally burning down on these issues.

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I invite you to check out my original short story “Haystack Harry” during the Autumn season. Please feel free to share it with family and friends, because that is simply how we roll here.

Also, 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.

Little Red Bear and I aren’t so big on relationship questions, but if you find yourself up a creek with no one else to turn to with something of that sort,  please feel free to go ahead and send those tricky questions in too, and we will do our best to try and help you out.

Little Red Bear 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. Bearing in mind, of course, that we are both unabashed storytellers, after all.

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I invite and encourage you to also visit with some of my wonderful writer friends to check out their pages and views on the coming Autumn season!

Cat Michaels — “What’s Not to Love? – Six Things to Make You Fall for Fall”

Rebecca Lyndsey  — “Fall Favorites”

Julie Schooler — “3 Harmful Habits to Cast Aside in the New Season”

Julie Gorges — “A Fall Self-Care Bucket List to Make the Most Out of Autumn” 

Sandra Bennett  — “Spring Into The Season”

Rosie Russell — “Jumping Into Fall With Big News At Books By Rose”

Auden Johnson — “What’s On Your Fall Bucket List?”

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Thank you always for stopping in to visit with us!  Little Red Bear and I are pleased as blackberry 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 filled with pumpkin spice and everything nice.

Best Wishes for a Beautiful, Healthy, and Happy Autumn Season! — Jim  (and Red!)

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If you enjoyed this piece, you may also like — “I Will Greet This Day With Love In My Heart”  and  Wishing You Deep Peace, Love, Happiness, and Joy –  And A Very Good Day! 

(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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