Fall colors, feeding the hungry

There's so much to look at on these October days, as autumn colors explode like visual firecrackers around us,  that detail is easy to overlook.

Two shades of aster are in full bloom this week at the marsh, for example, but you have to stop and really look to notice that. Some tend toward blue, others toward pink --- but the overall effect is purple and even the intensity of that shade shifts as the light changes.

And it's curious the way leaves on trees of the same variety turn to varying hues depending upon genetic quirks, location and other circumstance. Some of the pin oak leaves are shading into variegated green and crimson (up top); others have turned classic mahogany (below). It's an amazing show.

We're too dry here right now --- there are even red flag warnings out for counties along Iowa's western border. But it would be nice to have at least another full week of bright blue October.

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The annual Interchurch Council supper and business meeting was last night at First United Methodist Church (five varieties of soup --- you should have been there to enjoy it) and those who organized the meal deserve some sort of medal. First Methodist's fall thift sale begins today, that's a huge event and feeding a hundred or so people on the eve of it certainly was an added complication.

Sam reported during the meeting that Sunday's CROP HungerWalk raised a total exceeding $6,000, more than $1,000 beyond goal, and that more than a 100 walkers participated. Although the Disciples (First Christian Church) led the pack with more than $1,000, as they usually do, Team St. Andrew turned in a remarkable (for us) $600.

A special effort had been made this year to involve students --- the Chariton FFA chapter added $500 to the total --- and members of the cross country team ran the four-mile route. Of the total, roughly $1,500 will go to the Ministry Center food pantry, which if I remember correctly, provided the makings for roughly 34,000 meals during the year just past to those who needed a helping hand.

Just keep in mind that when the old Ford pickup drops you off at the pearly gates, St. Peter isn't going to give a damn about doctrinal purity or whether or not you've lived in such a manner that suits the neighbors. He will ask, however, if you've fed the hungry.

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Off again at dawn this morning --- this time to visit with the Main Street program manager in Bloomfield. It's going to be a great morning for a drive through the countryside.