November, it only believes in a pile of dead leaves
November
Has tied me
To an old dead tree
Get word to April
To rescue me
November’s cold chain
Made of wet boots and rain
And shiny black ravens
On chimney smoke lanes
November seems odd
You’re my firing squad
November
“This is a song with a lot of weather in it, and I don’t know about you, but I’m a sucker for weather.” -Tom Waits, November 2004 (listen from 04:55)
So! Moving right along.
Yesterday was cold and dry, and I tried to spend the daylight hours outside. Scott and I headed downtown to the last outdoor farmers market of the season. I bought a pair of poblano peppers because they’re so damn cute and quite tasty in quesadillas. At one of the apple stands, Scott picked out a bunch of Stayman Winesaps and Mutsus, and I cleaned up on pippins. Time again to try my hand at dumplings.
Back home we turned the dogs out to romp and rummage and turned our attentions to the garden. During the week some mad winds had blown the tin roof off our little porch shelter thing and stripped the remaining foliage off our two maples. So while Scott hit the roofs, collecting and stowing the tin sheets and scooping out the gutters on the house, I raked the maple leaves into a gorgeous pile by our new compost bin behind the greenhouse. (Okay, okay. It’s not as idyllic as it sounds or appears. That photo shows the garden in summer before we bought it. The greenhouse currently sits empty, as we haven’t actually moved in to it yet, and the plants are rather soggy and brown these days. But I’m really proud of our leaf pile.)
Gordon snacked on some gutter gunk before I chased him inside. Maddy obsessed over cat tracks in the bushes until I chased her inside too. She smelled, quite pleasantly, of mint and rosemary!
I took a break from raking and climbed up the rickety ladder, stretched out on my back on top of our house, spied into the neighbors’ gardens, felt a little lighter.
November 20th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
Thanks Scott and KT for the journal! I’m sorry that I didn’t say so in my last e-mail!!! I have started a roadkill pile in the backyard. They should keep fairly well over the winter, and hopefully by the time a thaw sets in I can learn how to make moleskin leather…you know, in order to expand the collection.
Happy Thanksgiving–we’ll miss you! But, it is good to be where you are, and maybe someday it will force us to learn how to communicate!
Hey, and good news…November is on the way out. Second piece of good news…March precedes April, and March is much better than either January or February.
Arrivederci? =)
jim
November 21st, 2006 at 2:03 pm
Poor November! I sympathize with it! It’s so underestimated, so neglected. In fact, *looking both ways* I dare to proclaim November to be my favorite month of the year! Scorn not November! For it is the calm before the storm. I find November soft and peaceful - no squelching heat, the first of the low suns painting a winter sky, leafless forests in the distance look like fawn fluff, and dried grass meadows are pillowy tufts. Thanksgiving is a time of abundant natural wealth and I can’t think of a better way to show gratitude for the earth’s hard work but to celebrate with a feast. But what is this, lurking ahead, threatening this wholesome holiday? Plastic lawn decor? Twinkle lights?! No, they are a hideous and pathetic camouflage for CAPITALISM! The thirst of the masses for the flow of commercial goods and gains threatens to crush peaceful November! No wonder this society suffers from lack of leisure time and abundance of stress; it is depriving itself of Novembers! November is that glorious moment when the head hits the pillow, when your lips give in to that involuntary smile as you sigh,”at last!” , a soft and sparkling frost and snow blanket soon to comfort you as you rest. Plowing time is months away. Digging, sowing, weeding, tending to the harsh survival of life - all are given a winter rest…which you could totally sleep through, sweet creatures, but November, November is conscious downshifting, feeling the relaxation relieving the strain. Taint not November with a meaningless and unnecessary insanity which only pushes to create downtrodden spirits in the name of progress. Learn to love November. Learn to love a season of rest and rejuvenation. *aaahhh*, November!
November 28th, 2006 at 12:57 pm
In defense of November and on the wagon for the Lady
I join the throng wanting more of Lady Claudia’s prose, in whatever way we can get it. What a treasure - a publishable essay. Delicious. I have digested it, slowly, and saved it to savour some more. Sort of like Thanksgiving dinner….
The topic of judging the different moods of the year has always puzzled me. I love each sort of weather and each season for what it offers. Much like I love each of my children without regard for his or her own temperament at the moment, I guess. I am reminded of a wonderful song from a sadly disintegrated band of yahoos. Too bad, a waste. A taste of the lyrics
And when your fears subside
And shadows still remain,
I know that you can love me
When there’s no one left to blame
So never mind the darkness
We still can find a way
‘Cause nothin’ lasts forever
Even cold November rain.
The beauty of each season lies I think in its unique difference from the others. There is such utter splendor is the black skeletal strength of the oaks and maples and beeches, naked and silhouetted against a steel gray sky, buffeted by chill winds, that we would miss had we not November.
And without November, some wise women would not have a Queen Mum.