Giving thanks for November
November! What a great month to begin that trek toward the holidays.
The weather is usually mild enough that we can be outside most days, and enjoy the trees that still are sporting some color.
Our big oak trees are usually the last to turn, cloaked in russet browns. This is a perfect time to go strolling through Colonial Williamsburg, and enjoy the trees lining the main thoroughfares. My favorite by far is the enormous Compton oak, located in the field by the court house.
It is truly awe-inspiring, and is listed as one of Virginia’s best big trees. Colonial Williamsburg is now an official level-one arboretum, and is well on the way to achieving level two status in the future.
CW’s arboretum website has an interactive feature to locate and identify trees. Trees are one of the great blessings of our Hampton Roads area, from the beautiful live oaks near The Mariners’ Museum to the dogwoods lining the Colonial Parkway.
In fact, November is a great time to consider all of life’s blessings, as we culminate the month with Thanksgiving, that beloved holiday of food, friends, family and football. I look back and remember fondly some very interesting Thanksgiving meals.
One year, my sister and I undertook such a meal in
Senior Living her small rental house in Raleigh, N.C. Somehow, we baked this 20-pound turkey upside down and also forgot to remove the bag of giblets, but it was worth the laughs and the learning curve when it finally emerged from the oven. Another holiday was spent in Georgia with a group of teachers who were stranded for the holiday.
We all gathered to share favorite dishes while sitting on the floor around an old coffee table, since there was no table large enough to hold the group. We laughed, ate and shared a special moment in time that I still recall today.
Probably the loneliest Thanksgiving I ever had was spent in New Orleans as part of a relocation trip. My husband and I ate at a lovely restaurant, with superb food, but without people to laugh and share in the holiday it had little appeal. Give me an upside down turkey and a seat on the floor any day.
We Americans have been so showered with blessings in every form that I think we should say a daily “thank you” and express gratitude to the angels around us and the moments that touch our lives, from the helpful supermarket clerks who reach the tall items, to the friendly nurse at our doctor’s office.
There are people out there with ready smiles and helping hands who go out of their way to help their fellow man.
Even as the inevitable aging process takes away some of our resources and physical abilities, I find that others step in to fill the gaps.
We walk more slowly now, but that gives us time to observe more closely, to smile more readily.
I may plant fewer fall bulbs now, but appreciate each flower more when it appears.
I treasure those friends who have aged with me, whose stories and histories I know, who shared the fun, as well as the sorrow and loss that comes as we grow older and lose loved ones.
November, and Thanksgiving in particular, is a once-a-year reminder that our blessings far outnumber our losses if you know where to look. Oprah used to speak of keeping a “gratitude journal” to record the simple gifts each day that often go unnoticed.
It is an idea that relates especially to seniors, whose aches, pains and gripes sometimes overwhelm our daily living and blind us to the gifts we take for granted.
Make an early new year’s resolution. Get up every day and express gratitude for everything we have been given in our lives.
Make every day a day of thanksgiving, and carry it forward into the new year. Miller is a retired high school English teacher. Originally from Florida, she now lives in Williamsburg. She can be reached at susanmiller37@cox.net.