Falling into Winter

I'm still surrounded by all things fall. The big arrangement of silk flowers in brown and gold and orange, a kabocha squash on the shelf, soon to go from decoration to dinner, a swag of multi-hued leaves on the front door  and a Cinderella pumpkin on the front porch.  It's bittersweet to know that in a few days all those things will be gone and it will be time to turn to the winter holidays. My folks have arrived for Thanksgiving a few days early and the TV is already turned to Christmas movies, but I am not ready! Even the calendar says it's fall for weeks yet! I protest, I drag my feet and I can't wait for Charlie Brown Thanksgiving tonight! But I think part of why I love the fall is that it is the beginning of a very special time of year. A time when our family gets together, when I get out my grandmother's grocery store collected china from the 1960s for just that one night, its gold rimmed splendor gracing only the Thanksgiving table, and the next day I fill the hutch with her Spode...collected a few years later and entirely without coupons. And then I try to make everyone use them every day until New Years. I swear that it doesn't matter if they get broken because they should be used...but the looks they turn on me indicate they don't believe me.  Coming next is Black Friday...when I will go out and shop because my mother loves it. Did I mention the Christmas movies already on my TV?

But for all my foot dragging and protests, I'm as big a sucker for Christmas as anyone and if you check back with me next week, you'll find me covered in tinsel and making huge cookie trays for all the neighbors. Because the season of love and giving is irresistible in the end. With Christmas movies on TV and bellowing carols at the top of my lungs. 

As we teeter on the brink of the holiday rush, I want to wish everyone in the US a Happy Thanksgiving, and to the rest of our lovely readers a special happy weekend. May your family and friends gather around the turkey, the tree, and every symbol that means warmth and love to you and yours. In a couple of days I'll be willing to let go of fall and embrace the winter holidays. I have a special holiday story releasing right after Thanksgiving to help me into the spirit.