In Washington, Virginia and Maryland, the final months of the year have many festivals. Whether you are into a theatre environment, medieval times or a book festival, there is an event for you.

1). Maryland Renaissance Festival

    The festival, now in its 38th season, features 12 stages and hundreds of costumed actors offering entertainment such as music and theatre performance, sword swallowing and a human chess match. Sept. 21 through Oct.19.

2). Baltimore Book Festival in Maryland

    This three-day fair features talks and book signings from more than 275 locally and nationally known authors, including Alice McDermott and Andre Dubus III. The festival also includes live music and literary hands-on projects for kids. Sept. 26-28.

3). Middleburg Film Festival in Virginia

    The festival offers a relaxed theatre environment, and the events include a dancing party, an orchestra performance of horror film music by Marco Beltrami, and a discussion with Colleen Atwood, who is a famous costume designer. Oct. 30 through Nov.2.

4). Temple Hall Corn Maize and Fall Festival in Virginia

    The 286-acre farm offers a lot of family-friendly entertainment, including pig races, farm animals and camel rides. Grab seasonal goods at the farmers' market, take part in the corn harvest, and hear live bluegrass and folk music. Friday through Sunday, Sept. 26 through Nov.2.

5). Kids Euro Festival in Washington

    Here is a chance to celebrate and experience European arts and Culture, no passports required. Twenty-eight European countries will be represented during the multicultural children's event, which features more than 200 performances and workshops. The festival is for children ages 2 through 12, librarians and educators. Activities include puppet shows, cooking and theatre workshops. “It really brings Europe to the children, ” said organizer Sandi Auman. Oct. 24 through Nov. 9

    Housework is a frequent source of disputes (争论) between lazy husbands and their hard-working wives, but women have been warned not to expect men to pull their weight any time soon.

    A study from Oxford University has found that men are unlikely to be doing an equal share of housework before 2050. Mothers, the researchers warned, will continue to shoulder the burden of childcare and housework for the next four decades, largely because housework such as cleaning and cooking is still regarded as “women's work”.

    The gap between the amount of time men and women spend on housework has narrowed slowly over the past 40 years. But it will take another four decades before true housework equality (平等) is achieved, the study concluded.

    The research found that in the Nordic countries, the burden of housework is shared more equally between men and women. In the UK, women spend an average of four hours and forty minutes each day on housework, compared with two hours and twenty-eight minutes for men. This is an improvement from the 1960s, when British women typically spent six hours a day on housework, while men spent just 90 minutes every day.

    But progress towards housework equality appears to be slowing in some countries. Dr Oriel Sullivan, a research reader from Oxford's Department of Sociology, said, “we've looked at what is affecting the equality in the home, and we have found that certain tasks seem to be given according to whether they are viewed as ‘men's work' or ‘women's work'.”

    Dr Sullivan said cultural attitudes taught at school may be responsible for the views of housework. “At school it is much easier for a girl to be a tomboy, but it is much more difficult for a boy to enjoy baking and dancing,” she said.

    Devon, 17, is used to paying her own cell phone and car expenses. But lately it's been harder. The family she baby-sits for hasn't been calling as much as usual and she couldn't find a job over the summer. Devon's dad said it's a sign of the tough economy. He told her he's feeling the pinch too and that he had to use her college fund to pay the loan(货款).

    This kind of money troubles isn't strange to common families these days. In fact, it's hard to avoid news about the economy on the screen of the TV or the computers recently. It can seem a bit worry and some families are hit really hard.

    For most people, the big problem is that things cost more at a time when they have less money to spend. But higher prices aren't the only problem. Many people are having a tough time making payments on some types of home loans.

    Therefore, some families are cutting back on what they spend.  For example, eating out less, staying home instead of going on vacation, moving to a less expensive house and so on.

    However, as discouraging as things may seem now, the good news is that the economy always gets back on track after a while. Jobs may be hard to find, but the slow economy can open up new opportunities. The couple Devon babysat for might cut back on evening's out, but they could be interested in hiring her for after-school care. Perhaps it's time to sell her old toys and baby gear (设备)in the basement(地下室) or help others sell these items online if she is good at it. She could charge them a fee to sell their old stuff(东西).

    As Canadians we may have a love-hate relationship with snow.We love the opportunities it provides: skiing,snow-boarding,cross-country and snowshoeing（雪鞋健行）.There are the advantages of creating snowmen.The beauty of the snow seems to blanket our community after a fresh snow.However,you may hear  icy roads,getting stuck in snow banks,temperature dropping;roofs collapsing（倒塌）from the weight of snow go in the hate category.

    To find joy with winter I have tried various activities to get me out and playing in it.My new favorite for the past 10 years is snowshoeing.The sport becomes popular because it only requires you to lift your knees up higher, which provides a greater exercise benefit.

    According to the Canadian Icons website,snowshoes have been a common form of transport in this country for hundreds of years thanks to the creativity of the native people.The oldest snowshoes were made by the Ojibwa people.With the snowshoes our deep snow walking would be possible.The snowshoes allowed them to float on top of the deep snow by having the weight of the walker distributed across the surface.The snowshoes allowed people to go across the top of the globe from Central Asia to Canada.

    This past New Year's Eve day my oldest son and I went snowshoeing as a great way to end the year by getting to the mountain top.We enjoyed a snack at the top and our dog Indiana rounded out our party.My son took several photos along the way of the amazing views to send them to his new city friends.We are fortunate to live in such a beautiful part of this amazing country.

    Snowshoeing is a great activity to combine your exercise with visiting with friends and families.Wear layers, bring water and snacks and go play in the snow.And your friends will share his enthusiastic story with you.

    As any plane passenger will confirm, a crying baby is almost impossible to ignore, no matter how hard you try. Now scientists believe they may have worked out why. A baby's cry pulls at the heartstrings（扣人心弦）in a way while other cries don't, researchers found.

    Researchers found that a baby's cry can trigger unique emotional responses in the brain, making it impossible for us to ignore them—whether we are parents or not. Other types of cries, including calls of animals in great pain, fail to get the same response, suggesting the brain is programmed to respond specifically to a baby's cry.

A team of Oxford University scientists scanned the brains of 28 men and women as they listened to a variety of calls and cries. After 100 milliseconds — roughly the time it takes to blink (眨眼) —two parts of the brain that respond to emotion lit up. Their response to a baby's cry was particularly strong. The response was seen in both men and women—even if they had no children.

    Researcher Dr Christine Parsons said, “You might read that men should just notice a baby and step over it and not see it, but it's not true. There is a special processing in men and women, which makes sense from an evolutionary(演化的）view that both men and women would be responding to these cries.” The study was in people who were not parents, yet they are all responding at 100ms to these particular cries, so this might be a fundamental response present in all of us regardless of parental status.

    Fellow researcher Katie Young said it may take a bit longer for someone to recognize their own child's cries because they need to do more “fine-grained analysis”. The team had previously found that our reactions speed up when we hear a baby crying. Adults performed better on computer games when they heard the sound of a baby crying than after they heard recordings of adults crying.

    Road trip

    Motorhome delivery offers great family holidays. For just $1 a day, you can hire a fully-equipped motorhome, which you deliver to a specific destination within some days and kilometers. You then hire another one to get home or take a bus or train. Your only other expense will be fuel and about $20 a day for parking fees. To learn more, visit apollocamper. com.

    Plan ahead

    For a comfortable break, flexibility with times, dates and places helps lower the cost. Find a few hotels you like, ask about their vacant rooms, then wait a few weeks and call again. If they still have rooms, you're at an advantage to ask for a better price. Lots of last-minute deals are online. Watif (watif. com. au) has deals on hotels that have dropped their prices so slow. You don't know where you're staying until it's booked, but anywhere with four or five stars has to be fairly good.

    Back to nature

    Wild camping appeals to nature lovers and costs nothing. This is forbidden on beaches and parks in most urban areas, but you can turn up in more distant area as long as nobody owns the land. You'll need to take everything with you and may need to shop on eBuy (ebuy. com. au). If you're a camping beginner, be aware of safety measures and get your questions answered on the Internet.

    Swap meet

    How about a home swap? For a $250 yearly joining cost, you can stay in someone's home in an international place of your choice while they or someone else stays in yours. Find out more at familylink.com.au.