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November

2011 November 22

I’m loving November and its quiet understatedness. It reminds me of Quaker events I’ve attended with Dan’s family where everyone sits silently and contemplatively in their pews and it’s all a little pleasantly boring. Then someone stands up to share, their voice ringing like a bell through the emptiness. Pay attention, the bell says; right here, this is enough.

Dan and I took a walk this morning and it was exactly like that. The trees were stark and undressed. The land had gone brown in a pleasantly boring way. We walked for 45 minutes without saying a word. And then I saw the rose hips – red pendants dangling from thorny stalks. They were shriveled and soft and as bright as any spring flower. It was a bell ringing, reminding me that right here is beauty and grace and connection; right here, this is enough.

I love the flashy circus of summer, every living thing thrumming its own tribute to life. And fall is a breathtaking caricature of irony, this final flare up of brilliance before death.

But in November it is finally quiet enough to notice the sky ringing the bluest bell of itself.

Or to see the clusters of pine needles sculpted in their own architectural feat of water and cellulose.

What was once drab is now a dozen shades of colorful.

Were we speaking of thankfulness?

November, I am grateful.



23 Responses leave one →
  1. November 22, 2011

    Lovely!

  2. Nana Judy permalink
    November 22, 2011

    November – yes, season for noticing Small Things – reminding us of our connections to Deep Things

    Thank you for these awarenesses!

  3. Nana Judy permalink
    November 22, 2011

    November – yes, season for noticing Small Things – reminding us of our connections to Deep Things

    Thank you for these awarenesses!

  4. November 22, 2011

    I love November. The quiet before the storm. I need to relax and enjoy it. Have a great Thanksgiving! xo

  5. November 22, 2011

    I love November. The quiet before the storm. I need to relax and enjoy it. Have a great Thanksgiving! xo

  6. November 22, 2011

    Yes! Beautiful.

  7. November 22, 2011

    Yes! Beautiful.

  8. November 22, 2011

    Such gorgeous descriptions, as always, and the photos are incredible. So sweet that you got to walk with your hubby, too. I love that you make time for that – it’s a reminder to me to do the same.

  9. November 22, 2011

    Such gorgeous descriptions, as always, and the photos are incredible. So sweet that you got to walk with your hubby, too. I love that you make time for that – it’s a reminder to me to do the same.

  10. Christy permalink
    November 22, 2011

    I love when I come here and you’ve written so beautifully about something that I relate to! We’ve been very rainy here. (Rain we have been needing.) And chilly. And I have been trying not to let it make me…grumpy. Just this morning I was walking to the car smelling a woodstove burning watching blue, blue pieces of sky peek through the gray clouds. And smiling. The smell of someone’s fire was my bell. To be here, not wishing the time away to a different season. And that here is more than enough. (Please remind me of this after our first ice or snow storm.)

  11. Christy permalink
    November 22, 2011

    I love when I come here and you’ve written so beautifully about something that I relate to! We’ve been very rainy here. (Rain we have been needing.) And chilly. And I have been trying not to let it make me…grumpy. Just this morning I was walking to the car smelling a woodstove burning watching blue, blue pieces of sky peek through the gray clouds. And smiling. The smell of someone’s fire was my bell. To be here, not wishing the time away to a different season. And that here is more than enough. (Please remind me of this after our first ice or snow storm.)

  12. November 22, 2011

    Your writing is my bell. :-)

  13. November 22, 2011

    Your writing is my bell. :-)

  14. Anonymous permalink
    November 22, 2011

    What a beautiful, beautiful Thanksgiving post! I am grateful to have read you!

  15. Anonymous permalink
    November 22, 2011

    What a beautiful, beautiful Thanksgiving post! I am grateful to have read you!

  16. Ellen permalink
    November 22, 2011

    Thanks for the reminders to be thankful for all those things that are free and which we may take for granted.
    Baba

  17. Ellen permalink
    November 22, 2011

    Thanks for the reminders to be thankful for all those things that are free and which we may take for granted.
    Baba

  18. Meg permalink
    November 23, 2011

    I love this. Thank you.

  19. Meg permalink
    November 23, 2011

    I love this. Thank you.

  20. November 24, 2011

    Wow! That’s one massive Elk leg! amazing….

  21. November 24, 2011

    Wow! That’s one massive Elk leg! amazing….

  22. December 4, 2011

    Your school days look amazing!! Way to go mama!!! – barefoot mama

  23. December 4, 2011

    Your school days look amazing!! Way to go mama!!! – barefoot mama

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