And It Is Good...

The countdown is on and Thanksgiving is rolling in as are the clouds, rain, and cold air. Today is the last of our Indian summer kind of days, warm, sunny and breezy. We have picked up the last of the flower pots, dumped the frozen and now thawed squash, turned over chairs for winter. I have made the last food run; I have vacuumed carpets and set the table. I have chopped and diced. Tomorrow I will bake pies, chop some more, and finish up a dab of laundry.

Despite some rough spots I refuse to think about right now, the autumn has been beautiful. Each year that I get older, I relish the pretty fall days more with colorful leaves and a sun still radiating brightness before the coming solstice and winter. My heart sings in a sun that showers warmth but not blistering heat.

Our Thanksgiving will be small this year, many people gone one way or another. I always loved the Norman Rockwell holidays where there were many people stretched around a long table. Now I am grateful for anyone at any time because each day we are alive and still kicking is a holiday! We shouldn’t wait until one day or one weekend state on a calendar to be grateful or to celebrate.

Thanksgiving opens up that frenetic season of buying, running, grabbing, sighing, moaning, and yes, some outright complaining. I refuse to get into it any more than I have to. I try to find some way to celebrate people, as individuals, and not necessarily with something I have bought. It is a time for quietly thinking of those I miss now. I remember a lot during this time by candlelight and soft music and sometimes falling snow.

The world is full of conflict and anger and hate now. It will take more work to remember the gratitude and peace we claim to celebrate. But the world has been a mess before and survived…I hope it gets turned around to goodness again. Maybe this coming season of love will rebalance us all.

                                      I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.