If May is lusty, which I've never quite found it, then November might be reflective. Thanksgiving gathers a dwindling cohort of family but still challenges my mind to arrange an repast second only to Seder and challenges my tenacity in executing it, with major cleanup the following two days. Veterans Day was intended to be reflective but the hundred years since the original World War I armistice moved memory to history. Still, a small moment of genuine respect remains for those who participated.
Medicare, of which I am now a beneficiary, has its Open Season, the chance to change supplementary options. I've not raked leaves in many years but it used to be a major November initiative. Some years, but not this one, Hanukkah arrives by November's end. Even though it spans the Christmas season this calendar year, I reserve shopping time. Partly I like to have it done before the Xmas crush, partly gift giving affords a chance to reflect on what each recipient is like and what captures their individual interests.
My father's yahrtzeit usually appears in November, now approaching its tenth anniversary. But this being a Jewish leap year, it does not appear until December. My mother's birthday was November 7, an annual day of celebration in her lifetime. And since my wife's birthday appears just beyond the monthly transition to December, some November thought goes into that celebration.
November also marks the 2/3 point of my semi-annual projects. I have a good inkling of what has gone well, what to pursue a little more, what be better abandoned or replaced.
Some years, but not this one, we vote. Sometimes I'm with the majority, sometimes not. But with this task, along with the others, November might really be about deciding what I stand for and pursuing it, whether at the ballot, with family, or the things I do on my own behalf.
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