What About November?

We have just said good-bye to Halloween and all its wonderful celebrations.  Seems as if they start two weeks before the 31st and fill every

day and night until that spooky evening arrives, replete with princesses, armed aliens, and toothless zombies.  Stores are filled with items to buy.  Candy is bought by the car load.  And everyone hopes for good weather to go door to door with bags and little buckets to gather up those Halloween treats.  In my day we also had to do a trick to go with the treat...but that was long ago and in a different time and place.

And now we are ready for....December 25th.  Yes friends.  Let's just skip over dull November and hurry to the end of the year.  Already stores have all that Christmas stuff out...decorations, toys, food, new things to wish for, old things that bring to mind our own holiday memories.  And who doesn't love Christmas?  I do.  My dad was the original Mr. Christmas.  He would celebrate it all year long if it was allowed.  So I am not being a Scrooge here.  Just wanting a lovely month in its own right to get a little recognition.

November honors our military and all those who gave their lives so we could be free.  Think about that.  We used to call it Armistice Day.  Study your history books and you will get a good feeling for what that meant to our country and the world.  So...thank you veterans for all you have done and do for us.   November brings hunting season.  Now who in this area can forget that?  I love the stories and pictures in the paper of hunters old and young who pose with their deer.  Now I know that some who read this will wrinkle their noses and humph with disgust.  So be it.  We have deer and deer in abundance.  That is that.  And close behind deer season is Thanksgiving.  Not a new holiday.  But one that has come to mean several things to different people.  To some it means family and friends gathered around a table full of food.  To some it means serving a festive meal to those who might not have one on that special day.  To others it means driving long distances to celebrate with relatives we see only once a year.  And to others it means football games and cheering on their favorite team.  But Thanksgiving is an important day in and of itself.  Thanks.  Thanks for everything we enjoy in this beautiful country.

And so, please don't let November go unnoticed and forgotten.  It is a full thirty days to enjoy and revel in frosty mornings and brilliant nights full of stars and moonlight.  Time to work and get ready for the coming winter.  A time to reflect on our blessings.  And a time to enjoy just living here, in this corner of the world we call home.