It is the beginning of a new month and a new time system as well. With the start of Daylight Savings Time this weekend, we now run an hour “behind” where we were last week. I have always been a fan of the “fall back” portion of Daylight Savings Time and the day makes more sense to me on this schedule. If everything seems off to you, I sympathize as I go through the same struggle each spring when I am perpetually an hour behind.

Before I preview what the next month holds for Ruly, I wanted to share with you the wonderful experience our neighborhood had with Halloween this year. There are some good lessons here for how organization can bring a community together. In the past, our neighborhood had a poor experience with Halloween. There were almost no trick-or-treaters and even if you tried trick-or-treating, it seemed there was almost no one offering treats so most trick-or-treaters gave up after a few houses. There was general dissatisfaction on all fronts with the holiday.

This year, I worked with a committee of neighbors to try to change things. We came up with a plan to organize the event. We created a list of houses offering treats and a route map and distributed it to the neighborhood. We also provided an estimate of how many children would be participating so that those offering treats would have enough. While most of our communications took place via e-mail, for our older neighbors without Internet access, we created an alternative “signal” to have the neighbors put up Halloween decorations if they were participating in Halloween.

Instead of a sad, disappointing holiday, we had a wonderful event that re-energized our neighborhood. While the number of households participating was not large in absolute terms, those that did participate did so enthusiastically. We had amazing decorations, generous treats, and delighted children. The event brought our community closer together and new friendships were formed. It is wonderful to see how a little investment of effort (and a little organization) can make a big difference.

In the month of November, wonderful things are coming to The Ruly Blog. We have several exciting new features to introduce, which will stay a surprise for now but which I think you will really enjoy. Please stay tuned! In general, the month will focus on organization related to food and eating. Whether you are getting ready to feast throughout the coming holiday months or trying to stick to a diet, Ruly has strategies to help you order your eating.

Have a wonderful week! Type to you on Wednesday with the Ruly Challenge for the month.