Good-bye Thanksgiving

​I could eat turkey sandwiches and Thanksgiving leftovers until the cows come home. But the cows are now long home and in their barns. They’ve been milked. And fed. And put to bed. And milked again. Leftovers have been eaten. I really do love Thanksgiving leftovers. I could write an Ode, but I won’t.
Dibs and dabs – or drips and drabs – of leftover potatoes and gravy are gone. They had their day and it was glorious. What we call, “turkey carcass stock” has been simmered, strained and frozen.
Now, we turn to the other year-end holidays. I always turn with reluctance. I hate to leave the shared bounty of late fall. But, cozy fires in the fireplace (and nowhere else!), cookies, special family recipes, small get-togethers to celebrate the season with sparkles and fun, are nice to anticipate.
This is a spiritual time for me, a time for reflection in the flickering light of candles. To think about the past year as well as the next. To sense the earth turning towards the coming new year, still sleeping, but anticipating; knowing days will become longer and the sun become brighter soon.