The temperature is dropping which means knitting season is finally upon us! Learn how to stitch your way to toasty hands and feet this fall. Here are a few helpful guides to get you started:

Photo by flickr user LollyKnit.

The cycle goes around and around...each generation has to eventually assume the role of caregiver for the one before. For many of us, that means watching out for aging parents (and even grandparents), often while raising our own families. Health and housing, money, transportation, and eventually end-of-life decisions are all difficult topics, but there is help and hope out there.

We have a special display of Elder Care books available on the 2nd floor this week and would be happy to help you choose titles that fit your needs, whether you're in the midst of a transition time now or are looking ahead to the future. Included are books on choosing a nursing home, Alzheimer's, exercise, family dynamics, macular degeneration, and many more issues specific to older adults and their caregivers. The books are all part of our nearby Body & Soul section, just as seniors are part of our families and commmunity as a whole. See our list of recommended titles below or stop by to browse the larger selection of Elder Care resources at Darien Library.

Photo by Flickr user marymuses.

Earlier this month, physicist Stephen Hawking made headlines when some of the theories from his new book, The Grand Design, were made public. Hawking has tackled one of the most basic questions in human history: How did we get here? He presents the argument that the universe began more or less spontaneously, without divine intervention or direction. Hawking also explores "M-theory," the still-evolving idea that our universe is simply one in a series, dispersed among different dimensions. Mind-boggling enough, but wait until you get to the part where he explains that each of these universes is a slightly different variation of ours, taking place somewhere beyond our perception.

Since he became a household name over two decades ago, Hawking has never shied away from controversy or slowed down in his pursuit of scientific knowledge. He's made physics accessible to millions and won international awards for his research, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. If you managed to get through A Brief History of Time (or even if you didn't and it's still sitting unopened on your coffee table), this is a more philosophical partner to that ground-breaking book, written for readers with curious minds who just may not happen to have a PhD in physics. The Grand Design is brilliant, shocking, and thought-provoking...believe it or not.

It's considered one of the modern-day wonders of the world, hosts almost 800,000 cars a week, but was called "a thirty five million dollar steel harp" by the San Francisco Chronicle when it opened in 1937. Today, we know the Golden Gate Bridge as an enduring symbol of the west and it's hard to imagine that beautiful city's waterfront without the bridge's familiar silhouette.

A new book, The Golden Gate: The Life and Times of America's Greatest Bridge by Kevin Starr, tells the story behind the bridge, starting with a history of the Bay Area, the political wranglings behind the bridge's inception, and the arduous process of conceptualizing and creating a man-made structure to span the dangerous waters between San Francisco and Marin County. We read about the tragedies that killed 11 workers and led to installation of a safety net during the building, how the distinctive International Orange color was chosen (over the objections of the US Navy, which preferred yellow and black stripes!), and why the guard rails on the pedestrian walk are so alarmingly low. We cheer with almost a quarter million pedestrians who joyously celebrated their city's newest landmark when it finally opened in 1937!

For more detail, The Gate by John Van der Zee (1986) offers an exhaustive history. The Golden Gate, though, brings the story up to date and covers many more aspects of the bridge's utilitarian and iconic qualities. If you've never seen -- or driven or walked across -- this glorious span, this new book will inspire you to head west and experience the Golden Gate Bridge for yourself.