Dear Sunday Letter friends,
Raise your hand if you are ready for the election to be over. I’m exhausted by All.Of.It.—the name-calling, ridiculous conspiracies, question-avoiding, and bold-faced lies. Only nine more days, and we can move on. Or at least I hope we can move on.
Enough about politics. (I’m sorry I brought it up.)
Now for a super divisive question…
Do you like candy corn?
Do you secretly think candy corn is one of the most brilliant candies ever, different from all the rest, possibly an acquired taste, but isn’t that what Halloween is all about? You can shut your eyes, nibble the layers separately, and swear you can even tell the difference, even though your friends turn up their noses and think the whole bowlful blurs to orange.
Do you despise them, knowing in your heart they are nothing more than empty calories, each layer exactly the same, completely gimmicky and filled with orange dye and awful ingredients that certainly won’t aid you, should you catch the coronavirus.
Do you simply tolerate them? While your friends grab them by the bagfuls, you join in only on special occasions like Halloween, consuming them with peanuts, (although you’d rather have a plain ol’ Payday), because certainly your people know what they’re doing. I mean, you’ve known them since sixth grade, and if they jumped off a cliff you would follow them. Oh, wait…
Do you choose candy corn every single time, escalating it above all other candy possibilities? You let pieces melt on your tongue and take you to a different time when costumes were handmade and the simple pleasure of plucking a piece of candy from a plastic jack-o-lantern was a humongous treat, before monsters began putting razor blades into popcorn balls, and high-fructose corn syrup became evil.
No really, how many bags of candy corn have you purchased this year?
There are no wrong answers. Remember and respect that not everyone will have the same opinion.
Fallen Leaf Art
Last year I tried my hand at fallen leaf art, and I LOVED IT. If you are new here, you may have missed my post about it. Last year I created a heart and a spiral.
This year my creations are varied. Here’s one…
I call her Madame Butterfly.
Annabelle thinks this is a fun thing to do on the front porch mainly because any activity at her level is huge fun. Also, the wind blowing down from the Arctic Circle adds an extra dynamic.
Here’s another.
Succulent Pumpkins
Leaf art is entertaining alright, and something I imagine kids of all ages will enjoy when the leaves rival the colors in a box of crayons. BUT making a succulent pumpkin is maybe the coolest fall craft project EVER.
I posted this sneak peek on Facebook a few days ago.
Here’s a picture of the three pumpkins I’ve decorated so far. And I say “so far” because this is seriously addictive.
(The small green one is actually a squash.)
I’ve been asked if the pumpkins are real. I’ve been asked if the succulents are real.
Yes and yes.
The pumpkins are real, the succulents are real, and all the acorns, pinecones, dried flowers, moss, everything you see is natural and found in northwest Arkansas. The most surprising thing about this project is this: no pumpkins were harmed in the making of these arrangements.
Yes. This is way easier than carving a jack-o-lantern.
Confession: this is still a bit of a teaser because I am planning a complete blog post about this project VERY SOON. Cross my heart, I am putting a step-by-step guide together for those who want to create their own succulent pumpkin. If we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic, I would have a pumpkin party at my house and invite you all!
Truth: a cute little squash succulent is exactly what we all need to carry us through the next few weeks.
Stay tuned for all the details. In the meantime, if you want to make one, begin collecting a few “ingredients” such as pinecones, acorns, bittersweet, dried flower pods, etc.
Two More Things
Do you remember the old black-and-white movie Jason and the Argonauts? At the very beginning, Zeus and Hera are playing a game of chess. The board game is literally how Zeus and Hera control Jason’s life. Zeus throws obstacles in his path while Hera provides protection just when it seems there is no way Jason will survive six-armed monsters and sirens and such.
Sometimes I think Zeus must be sitting on his Mt. Olympus throne throwing obstacles down at us mere mortals (or taking things away from us), most recently zapping us with the news that ABC would no longer be broadcasting the Peanuts specials, effective immediately with the Great Pumpkin:(((((((
Don’t blame ABC. Apple purchased the rights.
Of course, we can still watch it via Youtube or Apple TV or no doubt twelve other ways. We probably all still have a VHS copy buried in a dusty drawer along with a player in the garage.
That is not the point!
I love seeing the television commercials leading up to A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving; I get a thrill when a Facebook friend posts about the date of an upcoming Peanuts special. I enjoy watching the whole Peanuts gang at the exact same time my sister and mother and friends from elementary school are watching it, knowing that a long, long time ago, the first time I EVER watched it, we were all watching it together.
Good grief, Zeus, it’s the principle of the thing.
Oh, and while I’m (once again) saying goodbye to my youth, I may as well mention that Coca-Cola is discontinuing the sale of its first diet soft drink, Tab.
No, I haven’t tasted it in decades.
Yes, I still remember exactly how vile it tasted. Momma and my sister and I drank it back in the 70s because we were forever counting calories. Crazy!
Even as bad as the drink has always been, this snippet of news added another reminder of things lost in 2020. If it’s possible, I think I’ve become even more nostalgic this year.
Things Momma Says:
(Regarding Facebook?)
Some days my memories come up, and somedays I don’t have any memories.
***
Bye for now Sunday Letter friends. And RIP Jerry Jeff Walker.😥
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
Ohhhhh I love this October letter …yes, yes 🍁🍂🍁🍂🧡
Thank you! (It ran a little long…)
Great letter! I wish I could tell you I love your Halloween candy. I have tried for years to eat it, but I just have not developed a taste for it. In sorry! Loved your leaf art. May trot out to Walcott and pick up leaves. Just hope I don’t pick up a snake as an added present. They have been bad this year and some are still out and about. Love your mother’s quips. Related to this one. She and I would really get along. Since I have retired from teaching I don’t seem to have a mind any more. Oh, well….”It is what it is.” Getting old is not for sissy. Have a great week. I’m counting down the days when this election is over!!!
Sorry, I don’t do paragraph!!!!
Technically, I never really said whether I liked candy corn. (And for the record, I’ve not bought any bags this year…) Thanks for reading and commenting. Paragraphs not necessary!
Your October letter is the best: leaf art, succulent pumpkins, the whole Fall thing. I love it.
Thank you! It seems a little wordy, but oh well.
Great letter. I don’t buy candy corn but always make sure I visit my sister, Liz, who buys it by a small truckload. Then I eat it!
I mostly eat it at Momma’s:)
I thought I had a bad case of arrested development for mourning the lack of The Great Pumpkin on network tv this year. Glad to hear I’m not alone. I have guilted my grown children into coming over and watching it with us ever since they left home. I’m sure they’re relieved.😅
No, you are not alone. I bet your kids will be a little sad about it.
Love, love this Sunday letter! I share your annoyances with too many rude politicians (gag) and now Apple taking over Peanuts Is just too much.
I prefer my candy corn with peanuts in the fall. Once again, I’m delighted by your clever creations. I see a succulent pumpkin in my future.
And finally, Terry and I mourn Jerry Jeff Walker’s passing, too. Many years ago, Terry charmed his way into my heart by playing and singing Mr. Bojangles!
Thanks, Dorothy! Wish we could make succulent pumpkins together. What a great Mr. Bojangles memory. I almost attached that song.
Candy corn used to be a thumbs-down for me, until I realized it IS like a Payday, only without the peanuts and all the other yummy ingredients that make a Payday. I still have never bought a bag, though. 🙂 My grandma used to make popcorn balls every Halloween; I miss that.
As for your leaf and pumpkin masterpieces … gorgeous. I hope Gina K reads this. Pumpkins and succulents in one piece of art – right up her alley!
As for the Peanuts gang and regular TV … I’m with you: Good grief.
RIP, Jerry Jeff.
Gina K probably invented the succulent pumpkin! I miss popcorn balls too. The best ones are made by grandmas and little old ladies in town. (So I guess we best learn how LOL.)
Yes to popcorn balls!
Love this week’s rambles! We had a barn dance and I had a bag of corn candy left from the previous year, so I used it as confetti on the tables, scattered along the tables among the decorations. One friend began eating the ‘confetti’ and how could I worn him that it was stale leftover candy from the previous year?! When he finished all the candy within reach, he asked those sitting along the table to push the candy corn to him. He cleaned every bit of corn off that table! I’m not sure but what he sneaked more from other tables as well. The lesson: stale or fresh it tastes the same and the dye apparently doesn’t become poisonous with age!
haha. I like to use it for decorations too. It looks great in votives with candles.
I bet you’re right about Gina! And I wish I had Grandma’s recipe. I have several of my Nanny’s recipes, but I’m not sure I have ANY of Grandma’s. That’s a sad thought. She made the best chocolate pies!
To Cathy Lattus: When you wrote: “ Since I have retired from teaching”, It brought back a funny story. 😂
Love Madame Butterfly! (Very creative and delightfully stylish.)
Candy corn, not so much.
Thank you!
Your letter did immerse me in everything that is wonderful about Fall. Halloween is right up there in being a favorite holiday of mine. I wish I could put leaf art out where passerby walkers could see it from the road. But considering breezes and the rate of walkers past my house being pretty few and far between, I don’t think anyone would see it.
Candy corn: I do buy a bag per year. Some of it goes to decorating/scattering around and some gets saved for a Thanksgiving Blessings trail mix. I will nibble a few but it doesn’t call my name. When pulling up a Halloween trivia game, one stated that Candy Corn outsells every other candy at Halloween. So, obviously people either like it or are nostalgic for what it represents.
Your succulent pumpkins are works of art. I have one tiny hen and chick sprout that I put in the cutest tiny owl pot. It’s like my little pet!
Tab. Maybe I first drank it in college. I think I had a year of having a Little Debbie Oatmeal cookie along with a Tab as my breakfast back then. YUCK. What was I thinking?
Today is my first day to start tackling the Master Gardener program online. That reference book is thick!
Wow, congrats on becoming a Master Gardener trainee! You will soon learn how much you don’t know. (At least that has been my experience.) So fun though.
Candy corn is something that I buy with certain limitations. I force myself to purchase a bag JUST BECAUSE., but save it for grown ups who trick or treat without children. One of my children works for the state Department of Emergency Management and is in the middle of planning for post election riots within our state. Can you believe that? I am struggling to believe this. I am missing planning my Goddess Girlfriend Halloween party. I didn’t set up my front yard cemetery and my flying witch. This is the first Halloween that i have not decorated for in decades. This makes me a wee bit sad.
Oh gosh, this is so scary, the idea of election riots. This is our first year to officially skip Halloween too. We have a few decorations around the house and a couple of pumpkins on the porch, but that’s it. Sad. We are saving lots of money though because we normally have lots of trick-or-treaters and buy lots of candy.
Loved your Sunday letter. But, your art works are beautiful.
Thank you!