Living through November

I was inspired to write about November after reading an old friend's post on Facebook this morning:  "...I hate November...Is there anything (other than Turkey Day) good about November?"Isn't that a shame?! Here we have thirty days that my friend sees as nothing but lost daylight, cold temperatures, and dead leaves.  I see November as magical.  After Hallowe'en, folks keep their scarecrows and corn stalks and hay bales in their front yards, splashed with color from pumpkins and mums.  Those fallen leaves, until raked up, carpet the grass with orange, yellow, red.  A gray sky and cold wind only make coming home that much cozier.  And the smells!  Apple pie with cinnamon, pot roast with onions, wood stoves and fireplaces sending fragrant smoke into the air.An occasional Indian summer day (we will have one tomorrow, says the weatherman) is a gift.  Office workers will head outside for lunch, grabbing a dose of vitamin D.  Children will shrug off the coat they wore at the bus stop that morning, and run around the schoolyard as if it's early September.  Snow is an anomaly in November (yes, I know we had a freak snowstorm at the end of October, but that rarely happens - snow usually holds off around here until after Christmas).There's Veterans Day on 11/11.  This year it's 11/11/11 - that has to be lucky somehow!  It's an opportunity to thank someone who served, a chance to show gratitude.And finally, as November closes, families, no matter how distant or dysfunctional, come together at Thanksgiving.  There's too much eating, and sometimes too much drinking, and talking and laughing.  Grandparents  see little ones and think about time passing much too quickly.  People with enough to spare provide for those who don't have even enough.  Giving thanks for life, health, love, family, and stuffing.November!