My friend Claire, who lives near Sacramento and swelters miserably in crowded commuter trains all summer, bursts into joyful song as leaves fall and autumn brings a nip to the air. She says the trains and their occupants smell much better in October than in August.

I’m a summer critter, and can be found pleading with the cottonwood tree to hang onto its leaves in early September. Arms wrapped as far around his trunk as I can reach, I feel each falling leaf as if it were a wound. I try to avoid the inevitable signs of autumn, like school starting and geese heading south.

But somehow, reaching the first of November makes a big difference. Denial behind me, I settle into winter as happy as if I had sense. I make soup, stuff squash, and replace the phony summer flowers in the front room with equally phony fall leaves. Just give me bright and shiny.

Ironically, while I hate to see leaves fall, I love naked limbs. My decor includes corkscrew willow, dry grasses, cones and feathers bestowed upon me by moulting hawks, gulls and corvids.

It was a foggy but warm, beautiful morning. Perfect for agate hunting and strolling along to the pounding of the surf before true winter sets in. We left our truck and walked through the dunes to the beach with our 10-month-old spayed female heeler/

Lab mix on her 6-foot leash.

Suddenly from 20 yards or so away a pit bull charged us, flew onto our pup’s back, rolling her leash out of my grasp and viciously bit on her throat and pinned her, then kept biting until he was on top with her snout flat into the sand and her yelping piteously. I was screaming “No no no no” and my husband (who was recovering from a bad fall) was trying to ward off the fearless brute with his walking stick (no reaction from the monster) and screaming for the owners.

The fact was the pit bull was in full attack mode and humans yelling meant nothing to him. With no provocation, he’d thrown us into shock and terror so fast we were just blindsided! We went into shock just like being in a car wreck!

Del Norte County sheriff’s deputies “cracked” an egg case with the apprehension of one of the persons involved with the theft of some 104 dozen eggs taken from Bay City Market on Northcrest Drive on Oct. 30.

Deputies, who did not immediately make known the 18-year-old male involved, said that because of Friday night being Halloween night, “field justice was meted out in which the youth was given until sundown to round up the remaining eggs or else.”

The sheriff’s department, whose primary interest was in getting the eggs “rounded up” before they became “ammunition for Halloween trick or treaters,” said that the youth would be formally charged at a later date.

Trees discovery honored

I still remember well putting on the new blue and gold uniforms for the first time. This was the year the Warriors changed from red and white to the present blue and gold. It was also great because for the first time since I started high school we had the same head coach for a second season.

Chuck DeAutremont was back for year two and he was joined by two new assistants, Tex Gatlin and Mike Whalen. Tex had been a teammate of Chuck’s at Southern Oregon and Mike had been a standout at Humboldt State.

This was a group that had our total respect. Wins on the playing field were something that were hard to come by during my first two football seasons. Final scores were not always as close as we would like. While we did not produce a lot of victories score-wise, we played everybody  close.

We went over to Cave Junction to meet their squad in what was a very interesting experience. They had a new field that instead of grass was covered in saw dust. It was a hot day and it was amazing how uncomfortable sawdust can be under your pads. We came away with the biggest win of my high school career. We won 40-0.

Mari’s Climb, a three-part series running Thursday through Saturday about a lo­cal wom­an who was par­­alyzed after contracting a food-borne illness, is notable in several re­gards.

Most im­portantly, it couldn’t have been done without the willingness of Mari Tardiff and her husband, Peter, to totally open up about the ordeal that has turned their lives upside down for the past 17 months. They granted Triplicate reporter Nick Grube incredible access into their minds, their hearts and their home.

As a result, Nick’s articles will go beyond recounting what transpired — even though that account is riveting and will be told in detail for the first time. You’ll also know what the Tardiff family was thinking and feeling before and after Mari got sick. This affords a deep understanding of the challenges they have wrestled with ever since the fateful day when Mari opened her refrigerator and found catastrophe.

Interwoven with the Tardiffs’ story will be a broader look at the issues raised by Mari’s illness.

At bigger newspapers, rep­orters would be able to focus all their efforts on a project such as this. That’s not possible at a paper our size; Nick has continued to cover city and county government and myriad other stories while working on this series. Occasionally colleagues have pinch-hit for him, but the fact remains that he has accomplished something noteworthy because of his dedication and his willingness to sweat.

He’s known for months that the Tardiffs deserve nothing less than that.

Dear K., it is nearly midnight, but I can’t sleep. I am wide-awake thinking about tomorrow being the day that I’ve been expecting to see you. I understand if you are late since I’m sure you’re quite content and comfortable where you’re at now.

In February your parents told me to prepare for your arrival October 26. As the date grew nearer, the more nervous energy I’ve had. In the past few weeks I’ve filled the freezer with soups I’ve made and bread I’ve baked to take up to Salem. I know you won’t have an appetite for these things, but I’m thinking more about the rest of the family and the visitors who will be coming to see you.

I’ve been contemplating what I should say to you when we finally meet. I know it doesn’t really matter much to you since you probably won’t remember our first meeting. But for me it’s important that I choose my words carefully and set the tone for our future relationship. I know I will tell you that you are beautiful and that I love you now and will always love you, more than you can imagine, no matter what.

In the years ahead, you can trust me to keep your secrets, share your joys and protect you. You can borrow my lipstick, try on my shoes and take the pearls out of my jewelry box and wrap them around your neck whenever you like! I promise to take lots of pictures of you and place them on the mantle, on the refrigerator, on my desk and email them to all my friends.