The Alps, from the road above our house
This time of year, when things slow down, food gets richer, and wine gets heavier, I like to write and think about what is coming down the road. When I was younger I walked by the Delaware River's edge, wrapped in scarf and gloves, and just thought.
Just thought.
I have often said that November is my favorite month. Not because life is easier and more fun. But because life is quieter and more introspective. The woods become a cathedral, the last few leaves fluttering to the ground. I come back to myself in November. Now I feel it more than ever in my life. The last guests leave sometime in the beginning of the month; I can relax my body and soul.
There is not November that has come along in my life that the lyrics of that Simon and Garfunkel song has not come to mind.
Time, time, time, see what's become of me while I looked around for my possibilities I was so hard to please but look around, leaves are brown and the sky is a hazy shade of winter
farmer collecting the last cauliflower
Don't let these November days pass without going out and looking around. Let the breeze hit your face, go to the park, to the woods, to the river's edge. Go home and light candles, make some tea, give thanks. Let the grey days relax you, and enjoy the short sunny days for the beautiful long shadows that the sun casts around you.
7 comments:
ahh - you took me back to my times of sitting along the rocky shoreline north of Boston. I would search for the perfect spot protected from the wind and just sit and think and listen to the waves crashing. When I finally got too cold, I would run back to my battered Jetta and go grab a cup of chowder somewhere and think some more.
I'd love to walk in the woods, but the need for a hi-res jacket to stop the cacciatore blowing holes in my bum is putting me off a bit LOL.
I'm very impressed with the growing of cauli. Still at the tomatoes and salad stage here.
What a perfect description of those last days before Winter!!! Even though I live in California where Winter is pretty whimpy, the air takes on a different feel in November. The light also changes and it seems to become brighter!!! I think that's why I enjoy Thanksgiving so much. The sun is still shining, but there is a nip in the air that reminds us that soon it will be much colder. The colors are so vibrant and the air so clear!! Will you be celebrating Thanksgiving (even thought it isn't an Italian holiday)? I'm always curious what Americans living abroad do...
"the woods are like a cathedral" you are right. I too looked up and remembered those moments of the last falling leaves and the spire-like branches reaching to the heavens. The world seems both full and barren in November.
I do seem myself diving inward and am inspired to do so. I, however, have been thinking about the forthcoming month of entertaining, of "crafting conversation," of being ready to greet the holidays.
How have you been thinking about this?
Thank you all for your lovely comments!
Juliette, you placed me right into that scene with your description. Beautiful, raw and remote. mmmm.
Sarah, the cabbage is coming in like crazy now, I just love it and bought some really great fennel sausage to make with it tomorrow night.
Tesoro, I have done a few Thanksgivings over the years, not every year though. I use red currants instead of buying very expensive, imported cranberries, and order a turkey at my butcher. The stuffing is usually chestnut - sausage - sage.
Lydia, for this express purpose, I have invited good friends for a tiny dinner party of four (them and us) in a week. It will be our mini Thanksgiving, and I am going to decorate for it -- branches of bay leaves and small lights around the front door, and lots of wintery flavors. I am also contemplating a small cocktail party before Christmas, with antipasti and aperitivi. So I am also thinking of the entertaining end. It's nice to think about and plan!
so poetic. thanks for bathing us in beautiful language.
Living in California, the month of November is not like the ones I grew up with in New York, although I took a walk this morning by the ocean and the air was brisk, the sky clear and the sea - beautiful and calm...it starts off the day in a wonderful way.
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