November
No sun – no moon!
No morn – no noon –
No dawn – no dusk – no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member –
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! –
November!
~ Thomas Hood
Methinks Thomas Hood had a tiny bit of an attitude problem. Just a little one. Okay, so he was joking, but yeah, I get that many people HATE this time of year; once the pretties of autumn fade out, with all of the foliage turning, we’re left with the stabbing fingers of twigs poking into the bleak sky, and darkness. The time changes next week for the US, this past weekend for the UK, and then it’s Winter In Earnest.
But November is also the countdown to the day of grace, in which we stop whining for five seconds and go, “Okay, yeah, we’re not dead. We have a decent place to live, in this country. (Most of the time.) Things are not that bad.” This, coming directly after Día de los Muertos, or The Day of the Dead, is probably a healthy thought process.
In the spirit of John Scalzi’s wonderful post(s) counting down the days ’til Thanksgiving with an Advent calendar, I’m going to write, live, and breathe gratitude this month.
Today’s thought: Got a text this morning that my mother is in the hospital. No gratitude for this, obviously; I am … a bit beyond frantic that I am five thousand miles away. However, my older sisters seem to have things well in hand, texting me updates, and I am told that All Is Well, and it’s only overnight, and now that doctors know what is wrong (apparently a pulmonary embolism, exacerbated by a flight), they can easily Fix It. I am grateful that my mother has four other children who can hover around her and annoy her until she shoos them all away and gets up out in self-defense.
As always, I am grateful: it could have been worse.
And, on this second day of November, I will hold that thought close to me.
Writer-illustrator Ursula Vernon has declared this National Novel Finishing Month. Congratulations to those of you doing NaNoWriMo; I am deep within NaNoFiMo, and I mean it. Even with doing reading for the Cybils, I have a lot of unconstructed time in the evenings (as Tech Boy finishes the corrections on his dissertation and resubmits it in ONE MORE TIME) and I could really finish my mystery.
I LOVE my mystery.
I don’t often talk about work in progress, because it never stays the same from one day to the next, but I will give you some hints which won’t change: an obsession with The 69 Eyes, stalking Moths, extra relatives, a “house divided,” elderly neighbors, and annoying eldest sisters.
I hope this novel (working title “Favorite Son”) turns out to be as much fun to read as it is to write! (And I hope that fun lasts through the denouement. Writing mysteries is HARD. You have to almost keep the ending a secret from yourself!)
Okay. Back to work.
I love that you love your mystery. I am grateful that your mom is going to recover. Your mom and I would have met this summer, had it not been for the spontaneous getaway. John Scalzi and you have good attitudes toward November. I am still a bit of a grouchy-boots. This is the time of year when I am particularly aware of gravity, i.e. I feel as if the Earth is beckoning me into a cozy, dark dwelling spot (a cave, a pile of leaves) in which I should hibernate, my life forces slowing down to a sluggish trickle until spring. I wish humans had adapted to hibernate… and sleep upside down, hanging by our toes.
I’m holding your mother in my thoughts. I really appreciate my siblings, even though I am only a few thousand miles away from my parents. It’s nice not to be an only child. (I can say that now that I am in my forties. I keep telling my daughters they will appreciate having a sibling at some point.)
I loved that Scalzi post and am thinking about my own Thanksgiving Advent–a wonderful concept. Also, I don’t drink for many of the same reasons he doesn’t, which is interesting to me. I hadn’t found his blog before–thank you!
Oh, Barb, thanks – it IS nice to not be an only, isn’t it? …now…
John Scalzi is all things Good and Thought-Provoking. He is an amazing parent, and an excellent writer, and I eventually will have to stalk him in person. You’ll love his blog. He has a whole community there. The comments to that blog post continue to amuse me; I tend to over-explain the not-drinking, but you know what? Just knowing for myself the reasons why not are very good indeed. And, “No, thanks,” will suffice for everyone else…
Glad your mom is mendable and in good hands! I’m sure it’s hard to be so far away. Thank goodness for the tech that bridges distances, eh?
CANNOT WAIT to read your mystery. Finish, finish, do you hear!
My writing group took me at my word on the NaNoFiMo…? And they said, “Hey, let’s do that!”
So, by December 31, I *HAVE TO* have that done. Or else.
November is my favorite month; think February is more of a brutal slog through dank wintery moments.
So glad your mom is okay.
And I will say ditto that I can’t wait to read this mystery!!!
YES, post-January is so flat sometimes. I had gotten into the habit of thinking, “fine, if I can make it through December,” but it’s not nearly as dire as January and February, and sometimes even March is craptastic. I think we need to order up a new holiday for those months. Something which requires creative costumes and new dances and possibly hot tubs and fondue.
ok, I *can’t wait* to read this novel. Anything that grips the author by the throat and makes a modest person spout intriguing disconnected nouns is going to be great. I speak with some authority.
Moths as in moths, really? Have you read Girl of the Limberlost?
Hahah! I WISH I was writing something as brilliant as A Girl of the Limberlost!
Moth is a boy…
right… I think I get it. like me stalking Telemakoses, presumably (which I do, occasionally).
Ha! Great poem. I am always odd duck out because while I adore the beauty of fall, especially October, esp here in Minnesota, I also kind of like the bleakness that settles in in November sometimes. Kind of like a palate cleanser between the brilliance of autumn and the stark, crystalline beauty of winter. November is my inward breath somehow.
So sorry to hear about your mom. She is a pistol! I loved meeting her at ALA last year. I’m sending thoughts of patience and strength her way and yours. It’s hard to be distant from a loved one during scary situations!
And yay on Favorite Son. Mysteries are my favorite genre to read, and this one has me hooked already–stalking Moths? C’mon!
Thankful for you and your posts, Tanita!
I get a LOT of writing done in the cold and dark, contrary to what everyone else feels about the late autumn months. Fewer distractions, and the sense of urgency that the end of the year is drawing nigh: these are the things which drive me. And the excuse to buy two new sweaters and pull out the boots? Oh, yeah. Bring on November.