November calm.

"It came like a winter snow ... quiet and soft and slow .." 

I've never thought much of November. My favorite month has always been October and December has always held a special spot in my heart too, for obvious reasons. But November? Meh. I didn't have anything against November, but I certainly wasn't going to elevate it to "favorite month" status.

Growing up on the east coat, November meant the arrival of snow and slush and the bitter chill of winter without the magic of Christmas to compensate. Here on the west coast - or, at least, in my little corner of the west coast - November means rain. Lots of it. No, like seriously you guys, LOTS of it. And yet, despite the wet, damp yucky-ness that is my life for the next few weeks ... November is starting to grow on me.

I woke up this morning and flipped the calendar over to a new month, and felt an overwhelming sense of calm. The carefree, crazy days of summer are long behind me. The hectic, frantic, "oh my gosh there is just so much to do" of the holidays is looming on the horizon ... close enough to have me excited about the arrival of Christmas, but far enough away that I am nowhere near stressed about it. Today, stores will put away their ghost and goblins and replace them with snowmen and twinkling lights, nature will begin its shift from vibrant golds and oranges and reds to shades of humble gray, and for a few weeks the whole world will seem to walk in sync - peacefully strolling through everyday life without a care in the world.

There is calmness in November. It's like the underdog month of the calendar year - with no major holidays to prepare for and celebrate (at least for us Canadians who celebrate Thanksgiving in early October), November often slips by unnoticed. But this year, I noticed it. This year, I woke up and turned the calendar and for the first time ever I noticed thirty days of gentleness ahead of me. And this year, I will appreciate it.

Hello, November. Let's be friends.