November days

I want to start off by thanking all those of you who left a comment on my last post. I didn’t reply to each of you individually but just left a general comment to express my gratitude. A month has passed since Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination and, to date, we have no answers. Not even one single suspect, if any exists, has been questioned by the police. The silence is deafening. Frighteningly so. And yet, life goes on for the living and November has all but flown by. Lots of people here love to hate this month because it brings with it shorter days and cooler weather and also because, in the not too distant past, it was dedicated to the dead.

I look at November as a month of transition: from autumn to winter and, personally, I enjoy its anticipatory feel. Some Christmas lights have already gone up in places, even in our neighbourhood, and I am looking forward to decorating the house, baking cookies and other naughty treats, lighting candles and making home-made mulled wine, while dreaming about Vienna. Because Vienna is absolutely magical and breath-taking at this time of year and it smells of roasting chestnuts and gluhwein and spice and all things nice.

But back to the present and back to reality. Because before Christmas there is Thanksgiving and, even though it it not a holiday in Malta, in this house it is celebrated. So I’ll be making some lists, doing some shopping and remembering all the people and things that I am so thankful for. It’s not easy, sometimes when so much of the world seems shrouded in darkness. to sit back and reflect on all that is good and beautiful and wholesome, But we have to do it. For the sake of our sanity and for our children, we have to let go of all that’s ugly and rotten and, instead, give thanks for our multitude of blessings and look with hope towards the future..

Happy Thanksgiving

These photos were taken a long time ago (in 2003) when we lived in the US and I experienced my only Thanksgiving in America.