Day 17, Happy November

Happy November! Isn’t it beautiful? When we went walking on All Saints’, I could have sworn there was a special quality to the light, and to the wind that blew leaves everywhere. Beautiful month. Things I love about November:

- While I haaaaaaaate the clocks going back (this is overrated and should stop), I do love that there’s less daylight. I’m weird.

- Pictured: cold enough to occasionally turn on the kerosene heater. Agatha loves it, the house gets deliciously toasty, and the smell reminds me of my grandparents' house. They often had the heater going in winter and it seemed magical to me as a small child. The smell is forever connected in my mind with them and sitting and talking at their kitchen table.

- Getting ready for Thanksgiving (duh!)

- Parish Holiday Bazaars. Okay, yes, it’s not Christmas yet and some of them are putting it on like Santa and his reindeer just did a fly-by. I don’t care. My old Pennsylvania parish does a beautiful bazaar and it’s a great place to get pierogies, pizza, and pick up some whimsical gifts. I love it. It puts me in a good frame of mind for the rest of the month.

- Veterans Day. It's a solemn day, tied as it is to the end of WWI. The Great War, as it was called, was jaw-droppingly brutal, long, and gruesome. It maybe hasn't left as much of an impression on the American psyche because we entered into it fairly late, but it changed Europe forever. A day to give thanks for our brave veterans.

- Feast of Christ the King- Related to WWI, the Pope moved this important feast to November and it’s meant to be a corrective against growing nationalism and secularism, which are still very much with us.