November is the eleventh month of the year.

November is a month when the clock falls back an hour; the weather portends cold days and snowy days, and we celebrate Veterans Day and Thanksgiving Day.

 Everyone, well almost everyone, enjoys the setback of the clock. I am one of the well almost group.

I might enjoy the extra hour of sleep if I didn’t wake up according to my internal clock. Even if I conquered my internal clock, I can’t control my dog’s clock.

On “turn back morning” as I struggle to doze the extra hour, my dogs recognize I am awake. “Feed us,” their whines say. This year, I silenced them with a not yet. Bear and Duke grumbled before settling. An hour later I got up, and feed them according to the clock’s schedule.

Preview of winter days

The changed clock brings cold weather. I am convinced Mother Nature waits until we turn the clock back to drop the temperatures into the ’40s and ’50s, or less on dry days. The early arrival of darkness ensures even colder nighttime temperatures.

I don’t mind the drop in temperature when I sit comfortably in my easy chair. I mind when I am at an outdoor soccer practice, and the sun has been down for two hours. Thermals and the long sleeve shirt and long pants replace the Pipeline training shirt and shorts worn in October. I am less active than the coach and players, so I add a heavy jacket.

Colder temperatures further frustrate me. They bring cold rain, freezing rain, and snow. I tolerate snow easier than any variation of cold rain.

Snow guarantees slick–slick sidewalks and slick streets. In Maryland, drivers understand how dangerous snow is (but don’t drive like it). Many drivers stay home rather than drive in the snow. Rain brings out those drivers without the sense of danger snow gave them.

Brrrr cold, can’t wait for spring and warming temperatures.

Armistice Day was a federal holiday in November until 1954. It marked the end of World War One (WWI). The Armistice went into effect the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

In 1954, President Dwight D.Eisenhower signed a bill renaming Armistice Day to Veterans Day. Armistice Day recognized the veterans of WWI. Veterans Day recognizes all veterans.

Veterans Day hasn’t always been celebrated on November 11th. The United States celebrated Veterans Day in October for four years in the 1970s. Since on November 11th.

Thanksgiving Day is the second federal holiday in November. Wikipedia notes there were many celebrations of thanksgiving in our country’s founding days. One marked the safe arrival in Virginia of a group of English Settlers. Another a celebration at Plymouth, Massachusetts. 

People in the United States, Canada, and Liberia celebrate Thanksgiving Day, though the celebrations occur on different days.

Our celebration of Thanksgiving included my niece and her family from Washington, Illinois. Their Thanksgiving week memories include more than the turkey dinner at our house.

 They made the trek early and enjoyed time to visit Pittsburg, PA., Washington, DC, Antietam National Battlefield, Baltimore Inner Harbor, and Fort McHenry. I enjoyed hearing they enjoyed their time and look forward to a return visit.

There are thought, feelings, or impressions of the 11^thmonth you could add using the comment form. Don’t be shy, what did November bring to your life.

NaNoWriMo update

This shares an interesting Thanksgiving story. But first, an NaNoWriMo challenge update. Every day I am writing something towards the NaNoWriMo goal of 50,000 words in the month of November. I have completed fourteen days and I am ahead of schedule. I hope to finish by day 22 so I have Thanksgiving free. Today I passed 29k.

Smoked Turkey

Thanksgiving is next week. My wife and I were talking about the dinner this weekend. She asked to smoke a turkey which is something new for us. We have smoked chicken parts and found them delicious. A smoked turkey should be just as delicious. When we learned that a niece and family are coming to visit, we added an oven cooked turkey to the food list.

This started me thinking about past Thanksgivings we have shared. There have been 43 of them since we met. Our first Thanksgiving together was in Iceland. She had joined me in October and we lived in a Quonset hut outside the base. I don’t remember what we for dinner had but I know it was good. My wife is an exceptional cook.

Thanksgiving in Panama

We spent many Thanksgivings overseas in places like Iceland, Italy and Panama. The Thanksgiving that I will never forget occurred in Panama. Let me set the stage if you will. We lived in Pan Canal housing. The tropical housing routinely shown where you park cars under the house. ( Pictured above.) The command recreation center and mess hall (restaurant) was in a similar building near us. The wife was the command ombudsman.  She had many duties but one was to represent the command at commissary, exchange and public works meetings.

We bought our first Weber dome grill that summer. My wife found instructions for cooking a turkey on the grill. I don’t remember if I was happy or not with the prospect of keeping the grill fed with charcoal for the hours needed to grill a turkey. She prevailed. We would cook the turkey on the Weber. I fired up the grill and we put on the bird. Everyone else, including the mess hall, were cooking their birds in their electric ovens.

Dinner must wait? NO!!

It was about 2 pm when the power went out for the entire neighborhood. Turkeys sat in ovens partly cooked. My wife got frantic calls asking her to do something. Since she attended the public works meetings, they thought she might be able to get something done. They were right. She called the proper persons and soon trucks showed to work the problem. Hours later, power was restored. While others were cooking again, our grilled turkey was cooked and we had dined.  Some called it good luck, I called it good planning by my wife.

We have many interesting Thanksgiving but this is one that we relate when asked.  I would enjoy hearing about your favorite Thanksgiving memory. Use the comment form to tell me about it.

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