fall

Hallowe'en is not complete for me until I've watched Linus wait for The Great Pumpkin to arrive in 'It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.'  The story, the visuals, the music, they all set the mood of the holiday for me. The Quad Cities region is home to a few real life pumpkin patches where you can choose a gourd to decorate your home, or just get in touch with your inner Linus...

I've lived in the Quad Cities for a little over 17 years now. Every autumn, I am used to seeing what to me are ladybugs, but I'm told are Japanese Beetles, crawling all over the screens of my house. This year, I've been seeing something bigger, and a little disconcerting because I have never seen anything like it before...

When we bought our house in Rock Island seventeen years ago, I couldn't wait to mow the lawn. I know, it sounds weird, but to me that was the sign that I was a homeowner. I'm mowing MY lawn! Seventeen years later, I hate all yard work, with the exception of raking leaves in autumn...