Where Did This Month Go?

It’s November 30th and this is what our landscape looks like here in southern Ohio. It’s stark but pretty, especially in places with pine trees to offer some softness and color.

It’s hard to believe that tomorrow is December. How is that even possible? Where did this month go?

The weather app claims that snow will find us tomorrow and I am glad. When snow blankets the landscape, it’s not just pretty. It signals to me changes in nature and changes in the rhythm of my own life. In winter I tend to slow down, to rest better and to breathe deeper.

It’s a visual cue to begin a season of quiet.

I wouldn’t enjoy it so much if I didn’t have a warm home or were called out at night to clear roads. However, from the comfort of a warm place, there’s nothing better than waking up to the first fresh fallen snow of the year.

There’s Beauty If You Look

There is something good or interesting or beautiful to see everywhere you go. You just have to look.

On the rainy day I made this picture, I remembered the old saying sometimes you have to make your own sunshine.

What is this?

It’s a leaf stuck to my car on a rainy day. Isn’t it beautiful?

The Brass Armadillo

Antique malls tend to offer a variety of goods that aren’t actual antiques. From handmade crafts to vintage toys to books, soaps and a litany of other things, it seems you never know what you’ll find.

Imagine a big treasure hunt.

It’s a fun thing to do any day but I usually seek out an antique mall on vacation. It’s a good source of unique souvenirs but it’s also interesting to see what’s available in other areas and how it’s valued.

There are huge regional differences in how many things like vintage Christmas decor, dishes or even Coca Cola products are valued. A Coke crate can be picked up for cheap in central Indiana where there’s a big manufacturing and bottling presence. Whereas they’re about twice the price in Ohio.

As an aside, the company’s iconic contoured bottle was born in Terre Haute over a hundred years ago. That’s a different story for another day.

At the Brass Armadillo Antique Mall in Denver I found a lot of aviation related items including a nice print and this vintage Pan American carry-on bag. It’s in great shape and was under $20.

It’s hard to even find this sort of thing locally and it would cost significantly more around here.

I also like to seek out old snapshots like the ones pictured above with the bag. These photos can be acquired for as little as fifty cents or a few dollars. The Brass Armadillo had a ton of booths with boxes of pictures and I finally just had to cut myself off. These are especially neat souvenirs as some can be found with regional interest that show local architecture and landscape.

I like vintage photography and always think it’s sad to see family photos tossed in a box for sale. So I collect the ones that draw my eye and affectionately think of them as “The Family.”

We didn’t know it at the time, but this store is actually part of a regional chain. It’s enormous with over 600 vendors and a ton of variety.

Literally, friends. You don’t know what you’ll find around the next corner.

I was dying to bring home any number of vintage suitcases but the logistics of air travel with a somewhat fragile old suitcase were too much to deal with. Another time!

If you’re in the Denver area, I highly recommend checking out the Brass Armadillo. Learn more about them on their website or maybe find a location closer to you.

Scout’s Gratitudes

Scout was curled up with me in our reading chair last night and he looked so content that I started thinking about gratitude and cats and what he might be thankful for if he could speak.

I think this is what he would say:

I’m thankful for my furever home with the big, sunny windows and warm bed. I’m thankful for the squirrels, birds, bunnies and chipmunks that visit me through the window and for my mama who makes sure I never go hungry and always have toy mousies to play with. I’m thankful for my Grammy and Grampy who sent me turkey for dinner last night and for my new Christmas rug that Mama bought just for me.

Just so you know, I did not buy that rug for him but he has staked claim to the darn thing and, like everything else I own, it’s his now.

How To Dress A Turkey

Meat hasn’t been on my menu for a lot of years and so this is how I think you should dress a Turkey – simply give it a cute hat!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!!

Not A Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving

For many Americans, Thanksgiving will not be like a Norman Rockwell painting this year.

There will be a lot of empty seats at tables across the country. Some of those seats will always be empty as the pandemic has tragically robbed us of over 250,000 lives so far.

Some will be filled again in a year or two. This pandemic won’t last forever if we can just stay healthy and live to see it through.

There was another pandemic a hundred years ago that had people wearing masks, cancelling events and avoiding others. Those folks probably thought it would last forever but it didn’t.

As we are all complaining about the inconvenience and the lost traditions and the missed opportunities to see family, it’s perhaps helpful to remember three things:

1. There are ways to connect via phone and internet that people didn’t have a century ago.

2. There are people who are alone on every holiday and who know the loneliness of isolation around the holidays all too well.

3. This too shall pass. When it does, perhaps those who are experiencing loneliness this year will think to include others who are always alone when it’s safe to do so.

Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of the way we celebrate Thanksgiving as it’s mostly about gorging on food, watching football and taking naps. At least that’s how it seems and I don’t especially enjoy any of those things. If I had my way, I’d pack a sandwich and spend the day in nature where I feel most alive.

Of course, after we eat, on the very day we gather to express our thanks many run out to see how much cheap stuff they can buy.

A lot of retailers will be closed this Thanksgiving, opting to open early Friday morning for their Black Friday sales. Although I heard on the radio that Rural King is open early on Thanksgiving with ten percent off animal food and other random stuff.

But I digress.

My day will include lunch with my parents and an aunt. I’m back in the work-from-home club and trying hard to avoid crowded places and to limit my exposure to other people. They’re retired and home and doing the same. Maybe we’ll watch a movie or play a board game and just be thankful that we’re together, well fed and alive.

So maybe it’s not a Norman Rockwell holiday but we have to live in the world we wake up in. Let’s try to make it as safe as possible so we’re all around for happier days when we can all set aside our masks and sit down together without worry.