November is here
November is such a grey time here in New England. After the riot of joyous color that was fall, suddenly the skies go grey, the temperature drops and the trees are stark and bare against a twilight that arrives way too early. There are no harvests yet to pick or blossoms to gather. And looming on the other side of the greyness is the holiday season -- Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Christmas, New Years.
The upside of all this is great when you have even a vaguely functioning family -- lots of gatherings and traditions and enough coziness to last a lifetime...or almost a lifetime. Then you have folks like me -- people with friends galore, but with no blood-related family (or very little family) left alive. I have an 85 year old cousin whom I adore, and we get together as she is able. So I try to gather folks who have small or depleted families over the holidays.
This year, my Thanksgiving will be the day after -- and I will have a house guest who is my soul-brother and dearest male friend. This brings me such great joy. I am busily planning what to cook to make this a lovely and traditional feast. "Root vegetables," he said, "plenty of root vegetables." I suppose that is true. How fitting -- back to the roots for the holidays - potatoes, squash, parsnips, carrots, pumpkin, rutabega, turnips, baby onions. All of them in or near the ground -- hiding their surprises and secrets.
I'm so thankful for the bounty of friends in my life -- so overwhelmed with a family that shaped itself over the years. So sing merrily, folks -- find the treasures of the season where you can, amid grey days or overcast skies. Dig deep for the secrets of joy. They're in there -- I promise you.
The upside of all this is great when you have even a vaguely functioning family -- lots of gatherings and traditions and enough coziness to last a lifetime...or almost a lifetime. Then you have folks like me -- people with friends galore, but with no blood-related family (or very little family) left alive. I have an 85 year old cousin whom I adore, and we get together as she is able. So I try to gather folks who have small or depleted families over the holidays.
This year, my Thanksgiving will be the day after -- and I will have a house guest who is my soul-brother and dearest male friend. This brings me such great joy. I am busily planning what to cook to make this a lovely and traditional feast. "Root vegetables," he said, "plenty of root vegetables." I suppose that is true. How fitting -- back to the roots for the holidays - potatoes, squash, parsnips, carrots, pumpkin, rutabega, turnips, baby onions. All of them in or near the ground -- hiding their surprises and secrets.
I'm so thankful for the bounty of friends in my life -- so overwhelmed with a family that shaped itself over the years. So sing merrily, folks -- find the treasures of the season where you can, amid grey days or overcast skies. Dig deep for the secrets of joy. They're in there -- I promise you.
posted by Mata H at Monday, November 17, 2008
2 Comments:
We were planning an orphan's Christmas, inviting all our friends who are far from family. But in this town where everyone is from somewhere else, they all seem to be going home. So our orphan Christmas will just be the two of us. I'm slowly getting used to that idea.
Your thanksgiving sounds wonderful.
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