The Unfair Maligning Of November

 

“No sun—no moon!
No morn—no noon—
No dawn—
No sky—no earthly view—
No distance looking blue—
No road—no street—no "t'other side the way"—
No end to any Row—
No indications where the Crescents go—
No top to any steeple—
No recognition's of familiar people—
No courtesies for showing 'em—
No knowing 'em!
No traveling at all—no locomotion,
No inkling of the way—no notion—
"No go"—by land or ocean—
No mail—no post—
No news from any foreign coast—
No park—no ring—no afternoon gentility—
No company—no nobility—
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member—
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds,
November!” 

~Thomas Hood 

 

November gets a bad rap. The way Thomas Hood talks, there is nothing redeeming about November at all. That's not true in California. Here it can be 75 degrees in San Francisco, and snowing in the Sierra, allowing one to go to the beach one day, and be swooshing down the slopes the next. California is a good place to live, despite all the sour pusses that have moved from the state. But it's a harsh truth that it is also expensive to live here, hurried along by the invention of all things computer and AI. Twitter, sorry, X, Google, you name it, it's here along with huge salaries, and huge housing costs. But if you have lived here your whole life like I have, and found the time to discover its beauty and vibrancy like I have, you find a way to be happy. We live in a sink or swim world. Despite the leaves beginning to fall deeply in love with the ground, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else, especially in November, so I will simply give thanks for November, and all the happiness it brings me. Like Thanksgiving turkey... yum!

T   hanks for time to be together, turkey, talk, and tangy weather.
H  for harvest stored away, home, and hearth, and holiday.
A  for autumn's frosty art, and abundance in the heart.
N  for neighbors, and November, nice things, new things to remember.
K  for kitchen, kettles' croon, kith and kin expected soon.
S  for sizzles, sights, and sounds, and something special that about.
    That spells THANKS for joy in living and a jolly good Thanksgiving.  

                 

~Aileen Fisher,

 All in a Word