Day 271
Today is the beginning of one of my favorite times of year. It is November 1st. I happen to love the month of November. I think most people find it a boring month; I find it perfectly lovely. I am one of those weird people who do. I think there are 3 of us.
It is that time of year when there are still leaves on the trees (well, some leaves on some trees) and the squirrels scamper about furiously digging up whatever treasures they can unearth (hopefully not my tulip bulbs) and they look so cute sitting on their haunches with their question mark tails curling up behind them.
The ones around me have been helping themselves to the pumpkins and gourds that are part of my front porch display for a week now. I watched one squirrel carry a rather large squash across the street this afternoon. I was quite impressed as it was nearly twice his size!
For being super scrawny squirrels earlier this summer, the ones around me have blossomed into beasts of beauty. Albeit rodents of beauty, but beauty nonetheless! They are chunky little guys with big bushy tails … most of them gray except for the BLACK one that was out front the other day! I’ve been thinking of kidnapping one (squirrel-napping, actually) from a few blocks away and bringing it to my property – but now I don’t have to. I have my own pretty black squirrel. Yay!
In any case … November is a peaceful month to me. A time for reflection and contemplation. A good month for walking as it’s brisk but not horribly cold and there is usually wood smoke in the air and the scent is so satisfying. There must be something primal to that.
There is no rush to the season … there is no hub-bub and it holds my favorite holiday. It’s a slow month, we get an extra hour (this Saturday), it’s the time of year when Mother Nature starts settling in for winter. She is readying herself and I like watching the slow slide into the next season. The remaining leaves will change and drop, the sky opens up, and geese will be doing more flying south now. And, without the tree canopies I’ll be able to actually see them, not only hear them, as they go by.
The garden is enjoying its last hurrah … as I have (amazingly) daisies and geraniums still in full flower. The fox glove is in its third blooming. The mums and snap dragons and celosia are still vibrant … and my roses are not only in bloom but their beautiful, glossy leaf-covered stems are loaded with fragrantly sweet apricot and pink buds.
The sky is gray (I love gray days!) and at times the clouds scuttle low overhead and it looks as if it might rain … which would be fine as my yard could use a little drink. The animals and I are cozy inside – finishing up the last of the house projects. Six months after I moved, I am still at it … almost done – but not quite.
In any case, it’s almost time to bring out my old, tattered copies of Gladys Taber’s Stillmeadow Pond books. I read them every year about this time. They are lovely and she writes so that my heart skips a beat and my soul sighs gently at the same time.
Anyway … it’s November and I have twenty-nine more days to enjoy this wonderful, restful, beautifully natural and thankful month.