November in New England is clinicly
clear and cold with an occasional day
of clouds. I have lived in New England
my entire life and except for a more
northern or southern geographic claim
November in New England is generally
the same. Colder than most climates
skies are clearer than in other months and
more hustle among its population. We
are a definate northern human species,
used to extremes of cold rain, foggy mornings ,frost,ice and snow.
In November in the northeast most of
the foliage is off the trees, blown around
on the roads and gutters and lawns,
like millions of scattered memories and
images forgotten or held on to by golden
and fire colored emotions. Trees become
skeletol outlines on the horizon and grey
blurrs on rual routes of two lane
highways. The gold and fire red leaves and mountains become a grey background,
to the white painted wood and red brick towns. As the vacationers leave and the
local antique vendors take in their signs.
I always seem to wait for November
as a reflective time of year. I dislike
holiday television specials and Kmart
and Walmart newspaper flyers and sale announcements in my mail box and Christmas jingles on the radio and pre Christmas sales in all the stores, 40 and 50% off their 500% markups. I dread
going near a mall or any place that muzaked Christmas carols are playing.
I dread the sight of endless streamers of
read and green ribbons on artificial weaths on every door front in every town. "Oh I wish we could have a
white Christmas!" Makes me sick to
my senses and insanely reclusive prefering the company of good
bourbon and beer.
In anticipation of the fierce flurry of wind and snow and below zero temperatures, I take out of storage my winter clothes and dry clean the tweeds and wool sweaters, repair the buttons and zippers on winter coats and get out the gloves and hats and flannel shirts,
change the tires to studded snows, winterize the car, add a pint of dry gas
to the tank and wait for the first winter
storm. This is the real November in
NewEngland in case anyone ever wondered.
But today the sun is shining and the
sky is blue and the temperature is in
the upper 50's. Nice for a New England,
November Sunday. Nice for a New England any day. It's like
a New England, November, travelogue
day, the kind seen in coffee table, photography
books. I actually have a church bell chiming about half a mile from here in
a 1700's style Congregational church /
meeting house; and a red brick Episcopalian church about a block away from that church. It's like a puritanical christian surrealism , being surrounded by masonic buildings with steeples.
But the surrealism ends next month, when
snow begins to fall and the cold snaps
the power lines and the roads slush up
and the visions of New England become
severe; as New Englanders
do what New Englanders do, survive
until spring and prepare for a cold winter.