Bronze November

There are two months of the year I could do without. One is March, the other November. But March does have a little to recommend it - it is the precursor to Spring. November - ? Not so much.

As I was driving east this week on a sunny afternoon, most of the trees were bare except for those oaks whose bronze leaves cling fiercely to their mother/trees. the evergreens are dark to almost black; the hardwood trees are forlornly bare and gray. The tide was out in the bay as I crossed the Martin's Point Bridge. The bare cold flats were slightly brown from the sunlight, slick and sticky looking. Just by looking you could tell if you stepped into them you would sink boot deep in the muck. A clammer, was trudging along, clam rake over shoulder and basket in hand. I think you have to have a license to dig clams so maybe he was just getting those ugly blood worms for bait. Anyway, he was picking his steps trying to stay a course without getting stuck. November is all gray and brown and bronze, bronze being the only attractive color among them. The first year I was away from home for my November birthday, my parents sent me a bouquet of bronze chrysanthemums. They added a cheerful note to my otherwise drab YWCA room.

The weather is uncertain. We have just had a miserable two days of wind and rain, which cleared out a bit this afternoon and is supposed to give way tomorrow to a nice day. I will be heading south to spend most of the day with music friends.

Things have to be done in November. Shut off the outside faucets. Clean up the plants that have struggled to survive this long. Fill the bird feeders. Get the storm door glass put in. The doors in these condos are ridiculously complex. You have to completely exchange the glass and screen seasonally. The glass,of course, is dangerously heavy for an old woman to handle, hence, someone has to come do it for me. Storing it is a pain. But I am sure the price was right, and most everyone who was involved in the initial installations was at least twelve years younger than they are now. No foresight. Now we are mostly old women/widows who would appreciate an easy to manage self-storing appliance. But changing the doors is most definitely not on the association agenda. The truth is, we would have to pay for them ourselves, and they all have to be exactly alike. Not a chance in hades getting that to pass. I'm told I am getting a neighbor in the condo attached to mine. That may make November worth having.

November does have a few of noteable dates: tomorrow night before we go to sleep we should set our clocks back (unless you live in one of the four states that do not observe DST); Veterans' Day is November 11. It used to be called Armistice Day, but several wars later, the WWI Armistice lost it's importance, although honoring veterans did not. On Thursday, November 11 at noon, the radio station I am affiliated with (doesn't that sound important!) will do a tribute to the armed services. This is a repeat of the program I put together a couple of years ago.
Thanksgiving Day, a bright spot at the end of the month, heralding the coming of the Christian and Jewish Holy Days.

Post election, there were winners and losers on my ticket. I didn't have any bets on any of them, but took some pleasure that some of my choices made it to the winners' circle. Now we will wait and see how much can be done with the changes that will take place in February when the electees take their places in both the state and federal offices.

November, brown, gray and beautiful bronze. Oh, yes, and the bright orange of hunters as they prowl the woods and fields for venison on the hoof.

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