Now it is November

Now it is November. Late afternoon sunlight from the west reflects into gray clouds giving the sky a hint of periwinkle. Most leaves have fallen but those remaining look like burnished copper against the bright gray sky. On Monday, my husband and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary with a quiet dinner out. Yesterday afternoon we took a walk in the sharp north wind. The cold, bright, windy weather felt like November, not quite winter, but rather like the day we married. We are grateful for reasonably good health and each other. We also agree that life passes quickly.

I have an anthology of poems on my coffee table called Poems of Gratitude. I have been reading a few each day. Some like Mary Oliver's "Wild Geese" are very familiar, others are new to me. The small volumne sits on top of a beautifully illustrated children's book, In November, written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Jill Kastner. Just maybe I can convince my grandsons to listen to this thoughtful book about the season.

The Contrail Shawl grows with each peaceful row of garter stitch. On our April trip East, I bought two skeins of light gray yarn because I liked the fiber and the color. They were my souvenir from Webs. At home, I decided to order a skein in a darker shade and then tucked all of them away for another day. When I chose this pattern for this yarn, I wanted to knit it as written. To do that I needed a second skein of the darker color. I sent an email to Webs and could hardly believe they still had a skein of the same dye lot. As always, I am grateful for customer service in yarn stores.

Now it is November, a time for drawing in, making afternoon tea, pulling loved ones close, and giving thanks. I am grateful for you, the readers of this blog, many dear friends, and family. I am thankful for many other things including dinner in the evening and a warm home on a November day. Tomorrow we will join my sister and her family for a bountiful Thanksgiving dinner. I hope you have a warm wonderful holiday. Happy Thanksgiving.

Linking up with Kat for reading and knitting on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.