October is the month where cozy sweaters become a fashion statement and leggings become an essential food group. The cool air, the color and the smell of pumpkin spice make me a happy camper.
There is also the anticipation of Halloween. It also provides an excuse to be a perfect witch. But, the scariest thing about October is we also begin to realize just how many days left until Christmas [there are 55 days between Halloween and Christmas].
L.M. Montgomery said it best. “I’m glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
At my age I’m happy to learn something new. Last week I learned a new word, “gatha.” Gathas are short verses that we can recite during our daily activities to help us return to the present moment and dwell in mindfulness. As exercises in both meditation and poetry, gathas are an essential part of Zen Buddhist tradition. I had never heard the word before so did a little research and came up with a book called “Present Moment Wonderful Moment” by Thich Nhat Hanh. We all have bad days or bad moments within those days, some more serious than others. Using a gatha at certain times can get you back on the right track and move you to a more positive place.
My bad place every day is 7 a.m. because my goldendoodle wakes me up to be fed. She has a built in alarm clock. I like to sleep late so you can see immediately this is not a good match. We have compromised in that I get up and feed her but I go right back to bed and she has learned to do the same. I am still not smiling but there is a gatha that I can recite that might help put a smile on my face.
When we focus our mind on a gatha, we return ourselves to a good place and have more peace, calm and joy. Each day I am going to say, “Waking up this morning, I smile.” Apparently there are gathas for every moment of our day and they will help keep us in the moment and maybe learn to like doing laundry, cooking dinner seven nights a week, mowing the lawn, shoveling snow. It’s worth a try. I will let you know if I am smiling at 7 a.m.
The Fairy Tale Festival was a great success last weekend with about 800 people attending. The library thanks everyone who helped not only leading up to the event but during the whole day. We will sit back now and evaluate how we can make next year’s event even better.
Library events this month
For all of you history buffs, the Pittsfield Library is presenting Kevin Graffagnino, author of “Ira Allen.” While he was not as famous as his brother Ethan, Ira was still an important part of Vermont history. Graffagnino will talk about his book on Thursday, Oct. 3, from 6-7 p.m. Please call the library to let them know you are coming, 802-746-4067.
October marks the beginning of fall/winter programming at the Sherburne Memorial Library in Killington and the first event for adults will be an introduction to Vedic Astrology. Vedic Astrology is related to other ancient Indian practices including Yoga and Ayurveda and similar to western astrology, it offers us a guide or a road map to a better understanding of our physical, emotional, spiritual and even monetary experiences. Alex Lemesciuc will be at the Sherburne Library on Thursday, Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. to introduce Vedic Astrology and maybe give some insight into the present state of affairs and the future.
Geocaching is an outdoor treasure hunting activity that uses GPS-enabled devices. In geocaching participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the “geocach,” which is usually a container or marker at a certain location. There are literally thousands of these treasures across New England and one has been recently set up here at our very own library. It’s a fascinating program so come learn all about this awesome activity for all ages. Geocaching for Beginners will be offered on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 10 a.m.
Are there movies this month? Of course, there will be a movie every Monday at 1p.m. with popcorn and comfortable chairs.
The Book End Book Club will meet the last Wednesday of the month, Oct. 30, at 1 p.m. The book to be discussed is “The Secret Life of Sunflowers” by Martha Molnar. This is historical fiction inspired by the letters of Johanna Bonger van Gogh, the sister-in-law of the famous painter, Vincent van Gogh.
The book tells two stories: Emsley Wilson, an auctioneer in present day Los Angeles and Johanna Bonger, sister in law of van Gogh living in the late 19th century Netherlands. Copies are available at the library.
Have you walked your
10,000 steps today?
That 10,000 number originally came from a Japanese marketing company trying to promote a pedometer named manpo-kei which translates into 10,000 steps. Since then it’s become a global standard and while it’s a great target, it’s not the only amount of activity that will deliver benefits. Since then other studies have suggested 5,000 steps three times a week. The average person only gets between 3,000-4,000 steps a day. Is that enough? Some say this will add three years to your life, which is certainly welcome news. A third of us are currently considered “inactive” because we do less than the recommendation. Research has found that regular walking does add years to the life expectancy of physically inactive men and women. In fact, the benefit increases the older we are. Actually the more you do the better off you are. Every daily step above 2,200 lowers the risk of heart disease and early death. So we all need to get out there and move. Actually stop focusing on the number of steps and walk briskly for 10 minutes every day.
Above all minimize sit time. Sitting is a major health risk. At the very least do more than you did yesterday.
Scams…
Some of us work for our money and others sit at a desk all day trying to scam money from the rest of us. I was the victim of a scam a few weeks ago and it was scary because they knew where I lived. According to the FBI over $724 million was lost to scammers in 2022 with more than 13,000 complaints of fraudulent charges for products that were never delivered. Here are a few of the top scams:
- Ordering items that never arrive. Avoid by sticking to well known platforms
- Tech support scams that tell you your computer is infected
- Fake password reset emails
- Fake package delivery notices
- Robo calls that trick you into saying “yes” to a question, which is then recorded
- Sweepstakes and lottery scams saying you have won
- Stolen mail and check fraud
There are many more so always beware. A word on passwords: A tech friend of mine said to change them often like every three months and to use the first letter of a sentence. For example “I Am Happy In Killington” would be @IAHIK84 after adding a symbol and a number.
Save the date
Killington’s annual fall block party is Monday, Oct. 21 and we are all invited. This has been a tradition in Killington for many years. I will share more details as we get nearer to the date.
Remember, reach out to each other and be grateful. Love who you can. Help where you can and give what you can.
