I am so sorry to hear that they don't do the pumpkin fest anymore. I remember the rioting but didn't know it led to the end of what was a wonderful event. I was there the first year they made it into Guinness world record with over 10,000 carved and lit pumpkins. That was back in the 90s. What a sight.

Just as an aside if you like reading Emerson and Thoreau, they reflected their writing using
Mt. Monadnock as their inspiration.
peace

I'm glad that you had the chance to experience this Ube. It cost the town a lot of $ and manpower to get the riot under control. Many families looked forward to this event each year. Not to mention the commerce that it brought into the community. I was heartbroken over it, because I really looked forward to it each year since I've been in the area. It was a beautiful thing. So sad that beligerent young people with nothing to lose personally, are able to destroy something so wonderful. Where is their sense of right and wrong? I was not raised that way and I just cannot comprehend how these people could have felt comfortable behaving the way they did. We could say that they were under the influence, but it seems to me that participating in this "party" was premeditated. My daughter wanted to be able to take her son to this when he was old enough, and she actually started crying when she heard what had happened. Whatever happened to respecting the rights and properties of others?

Coast of Central California is nice. We have quite a bit of wild life close to the foothills. All the little animals you would expect and the occasional big one you don't want to run into (bear, bobcat and mountain lion). But you have to be careful not to go into the ocean during elephant seal calving & weaning season. The sharks are looking for a quick meal. They can't tell the difference between a wetsuit and a baby elephant seal.

we live in the country--so get deer, turkeys, raccoons (which one of the dogs has the facial scars to prove his many entanglements), skunks, possum, coyotes seen daily, bobcats, not many squirrels cause we don't have many trees due to hay fields and dogs tend to keep rest away, rabbits, snakes--both non-poisonous and poisonous, voles, bats, and recently we are seeing armadillos--most people will intentionally hit those with cars if they can due to the diseases they carry. Lots of owls and hawks, cranes and other birds.

Aurora, I agree with and adore your appreciation of all God's creatures.
Having lived from Alaska and Hawaii, spots across the country, to current digs in FL and NC mountains, I love to find my interesting neighbors. DH says to stop telling him about resident coral snakes.
From big bears to tiny red foxes, and the herd of deer when we lived in the middle of a large city (golf course nearby), the kids and I learned to admire from a distance. And we knew to check for ticks!!