The quiet after the storm.

Thanksgiving was a busy time here. I am still not used to having Thanksgiving in November, right in the middle of the time I am usually getting psychologically prepared for the hauling out of Christmas lights, wrestling with sharp, jabby greenery and tackling the artificial tree that seems to lose more and more limbs each year. I had started a real tree tradition here at our house, but this year we are spending Christmas back in Canada so I will be going with the fake selection.

In Canada, thanksgiving is in the middle of October and one has time to adequately digest all the turkey leftovers before even giving Christmas a thought. Here in the States, one has hardly cleared the thanksgiving dishes from the table when one has to run out to early bird Christmas shopping. I was barely back from the shopping adventures when I noticed the pumpkins and fall wreaths had all disappeared from the front steps of all my neighbours homes and in their place was sparkling, light-filled trees and bushes, large air-filled nylon characters, and lush green wreaths festooned with big red bows. I actually had a neighbour tell me they were about to call the neighbourhood board to complain that my thanksgiving flag that was still up. I quickly got rid of the pumpkins in my urn and gave orders to pull the outdoor lights from their storage bin in the garage. They still are not up due to a busy schedule, but the box is down and the lights are ready for action.

Christmas seems to drop in like a bomb here. In a day an explosion of Christmas trees and lights and shopping and wreaths and music appear as if out of nowhere. I liked the gentle sashay into the season back home. Over the course of a few weeks things took a gradual and graceful turn toward Christmas. Decorations appeared over a few weeks rather than a few hours, people caught their breath between getting the outdoor lights up and putting up the Christmas tree.

So here I am, woefully behind in keeping up with the Jones' and the Smiths'. I did take down the scarecrow flag today. Tomorrow I might think about bringing one of the many boxes from the basement and start a little of the interior decorating. Hopefully the outside lights will get put up this weekend and we won't be the dark corner of the neighbourhood anymore.

Oh yes, and there is Will up on top, enjoying a book from a very old chair that came "off of the ark" so I am told. He needed help scrambling up there as the seat is so small, but once there he felt the perfect activity for such a perch was enjoying a good book.