South to North and Back Again?

The last post dealt with location, and so will this one. Over 800 miles north for Thanksgiving with my children involved more than a usual amount of consideration of settings. From the moderate early winter of North Carolina to the honest chill of end of November in the Berkshires was a big enough change. I won't go into the idiosyncrasies of the household that took me in, though I must mention a Great Dane tall enough to steal my dog's food from the top of the hutch on my granddaughter's computer desk.

The days are shorter up there, the color of the sun is paler, the trees are completely bare except for the oaks and an occasional beech, and there's no holly growing wild to color the greys and browns of the woods. I'm working on a poem about that. Grazed fields are still bright emerald, birds throng the feeders, and a walk with the dogs brings one back grateful for warmth.
And the best kind of warmth is what you get among your own. I wish I could be properly eager for yet another major holiday so close to that one. While both are delightful, for my family Christmas is even more special--and my wedding anniversary is the 22nd. I just wish we had been as wise as the Canadians and put our Thanksgiving in October!

Anyway, onward into the fray! My issue of our newsletter is almost finished; I've printed some of the cards I'll send as soon as I have time to write them; I have most of my gifts wrapped because I may have to go to Connecticut again with my grandson in his car. He gets out of college on the 17th! You see, there isn't time to get things done!

Happy Holidays, in case I never get back to this site till it's all over.