I took many neighborhood walks this month, watching the season change, and contemplating sad partings.

Fall colors in Northeast Portland

The leaves…

Berries and late blooming or winter flowers…

Sidewalk square of the month…

And of course, the early holiday decorations…

Knitting

I finished one cowl, which I am wearing almost every day. The pattern is Ella Improv by Cecelia Campochiaro. The yarn in Malabrigo Lace.

Reading

I finished six books in November. The most compelling was The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai, a saga of family life in Viet Nam in the twentieth century.

Signs of Resistance

My neighborhood is always heartening in the display of signs of resistance. There seem to be more and more all the time.

Sadness

This month I lost two close family members; one older, one younger, one with a long illness, both quite sudden. This was unexpected and sad and I have been feeling shaken and unanchored in time. As a family we are scattered geographically, but with the miracles of technology, we have been able to grieve together. It is hard. And it is human. We are all on that train. We are stopped in our tracks by the loss. We are determined to live well in response. Both paths seem wrong. But we go on.

Thanksgiving was celebrated with close friends who invited us for the day, and for whom I am grateful, especially this year.

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