Thank you for reading the October 2022 issue of This Awful Awesome Life. Previous issues are available to read on our website. Go to  thisawfulawesomelife.com and start scrolling or you can enter specific search criteria.

Next month we will be celebrating Thanksgiving as a celebration of the harvest as it was originally intended.

November is also Native American Heritage Month and National Novel Writing Month.

Lilly Kauffman, Orlando Bartro, Linda Cahill, and I will be back with interesting articles and recipes for you. Our vegetable for November is corn. Corn on the cob, steamed or roasted, creamed corn, or popped corn, what’s your favorite?

We’ll have our November quiz, reading recommendations, streaming article, and our new series, “Dare to Believe” and “What’s in a Word?”

My November book selection will be Dave Grohl’s memoir, The Storyteller. I read it in tree days and became so engrossed in the story I was holding my breath which set off my pulse Ox in the hospital more than once to the dismay of my incredible nurses. Who knew? I learned I often hold my breath while I’m concentrating thanks to this book.

Until next month,

Stay safe. Stay well. You are important, and you are loved.

All my best,

Fran

Answers to the October 2022 Fall Quiz:

1.       Birth rates are highest during the fall season.

2.       According to scientists, fall occurs when the Earth tilts away from the sun.

3.       Ancient Greeks believed fall occurred when Persephone returned to the underworld. Her mother, Demeter, the Goddess of fertility and harvest, became so upset she allowed the planet’s crops to wither until her daughter’s return in the spring.

4.       Johnny Appleseed’s real name was John Chapman. For decades he made his way from state to state installing plant nurseries and fencing them off to protect them from livestock. He left them in the care of locals and went on his way.

5.       There are more babies born in September than any other month.

6.       The Northern Lights are strongest during the fall.

7.       The planet Mercury is visible at dusk throughout the month of September along with the planets Jupiter and Saturn.

8.       According to National Geographic, places near the equator experience little seasonal variations, so fall isn’t really noticeable.

9.       Día de los Muertos celebrated on November 2 is a Latinx holiday for celebrating deceased loved ones.

10.   There are more than 7,500 varieties of apples in the world.

11.   Pumpkins grow on every continent except Antarctica.

12.   Illinois is the top pumpkin producing state in the United States.

13.   The smell of pumpkin pie is an aphrodisiac for men especially when mixed with the scent of lavender.

14.   In the New England states of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut tourism from fall foliage results in over $3 billion dollars in tourism income each year.

15.    In addition to many birds, Monarch butterflies also begin to migrate from the northwestern United States and Canada to their winter home in southwestern Mexico during the fall.

16.   In Japan, tempura-fried maple leaves are a fall delicacy.

17.   According to The Encyclopedia of Superstitions catching as many falling leaves in your hand as you can hold will be followed by an equal number of happy months.

18.   Fall colors depend on how much sugar is in the leaves.

19.   Weight gain during the fall may be related to a lack of vitamin D which reduces fat breakdown and triggers fat storage.

20.   According to a recent study by the University of Colorado the number of fatal heart attacks drops by an average of 20% after the Autumn time switch.