With Thanksgiving over and done with its time to get on with the simple every day business of daily living.
Oh right, Halloween is just a ghost and goblin or two away.
Anyone who knows anything about anything will know this little bit of trivia.
Besides, scary Halloween stuff has pretty much taken over the stores.
As for me and my house, we are still living with the remnants of Thanksgiving which seems to still be hanging around, lurking in the dark, shadowy corners of yesterday.
I need to put the Thanksgiving stuff away.
The bulrushes that I painstakingly picked from the few bushes that I spotted from the road should be thrown out. They are already starting to sprout little white fluffs of nothing on their brown heads. And my dollar store autumn leaves are beginning to look just like that.
Dollar store autumn leaves.
But, oh what a thankfully delightful Thanksgiving holiday it was.
I so enjoy filling my home with family and friends and music and laughter. I am pleased when I look around the table and see the faces of many of those who are dear and familiar to me.
And so, this year, it happened once again and I was pleased.
Eighteen plates we set out. And, it was not enough.
Apparently we had 20 people to sit around the table, which meant dragging out the piano bench and asking some people if they would graciously perch themselves on those little paint splattered stools I always manage to find for occasions such as this.
This year, I was truly blessed to have a couple extra sets of hands in the kitchen when I began preparing this elaborate feast.
And, as it turned out the cook’s helpers were quite a bit more knowledgeable than the cook herself.
I was good with that.
It turned out my primary focus was to be the gravy which Iset about making it with steely determination.
My worst fear was being forced to put lumpy gravy made by me on the table.
And so it came to be that the gravy was awesome, but it was really the only thing I could take credit for though my dinner guest heaped praises on me aright along with their generous helpings of mashed potatoes.
I let them.
It was truly a Thanksgiving to be thankful for and I can’t help but feel how very fortunate I am indeed, not only to have the means to enjoy such abundance, but mostly because of the people who sat around my table.
What would Thanksgiving be without friends and family?
Or any day, for that matter.
Even now, with October slowly slipping into November and the harsh winds of winter creating havoc with the rich tapestry of leaves that colour our world, it is comforting to know that the warmth of friendship does not diminish along with the temperature outside.
This year, three of my youngest grandchildren were absent from my Thanksgiving table and, if I had had any time at all I would have felt most saddened by their absence.
But, as it turned out, the music, the laughter and the quiet hum of chatter that filled my home seeped into my own soul as well and it was good.
And, their mother has assured me they will all be home for Christmas.
Christmas, I exclaim. Christmas is such a long ways away.
But, if the truth be told, as soon as the little ghosts and goblins and other scary creatures of the night pack themselves up for another year, Christmas in all its finery and tinselled glitter will make itself known in stores everywhere.
And, it will be good.
But, oh, until that time it will be nice to bask in the everyday wonder of quiet, every day living and practice mindfulness and meditation and gratefulness.
And just be happy!
And then, once again, it will be Christmas!