1. My Favorite Month

November is my favorite month of the year, and in honor of such, I have decided to postpone my usually cynical rants in favor of a more grateful Month Of My Favorite Things. I just want to make a real effort to present myself as a person who is appreciative of the good things in life (which I am, honest !), not just my usual crabby, bossy self who has a complaint about everything.

I’ll begin with an explanation of why November is my favorite month. For as long as I can remember, autumn has been my favorite season. November is the best month to see the transition between summer and autumn; In California, we are often cursed with an Indian summer, extending late into October like it did this year. It isn’t until November that the temperatures drop, the leaves turn red and brown, the foothills lose their green summer sheen, and the sky welcomes those cumulonimbus and nimbostratus clouds I am quite fond of. I love the rain, and autumn rain always feels so much more refreshing and enlightening than spring rain--spring rain is hopeful, indicative of new things to come. Autumn rain just is, and I like things simple like that.

When I was a kid, my dad and grandfather co-owned a construction company and they always welcomed the autumn rains, as they often worked seven days a week through the summer, taking advantage of the “good” working weather. On days my grandfather didn’t work because of rain, he would pick me up from school and we would share an umbrella as we walked home together. I loved every opportunity to spend more time with him, and I would hope every day that it rained that Papa would be standing outside my classroom at two-thirty to take me home.

November is also the month of my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving (I love food), as well as a recent discovery, the birthdays of some of my favorite people; Cheryl, Dan, Josh, Ethan, Cole, Brian, and Vickie. I am very thankful for their existence and their friendship.

So again, in honor of the great month of November, I will take time every day to appreciate one or more things, perhaps even the things I spend a lot of time complaining about (customers, traffic, etc). There are customers I like, and sometimes traffic can be...fun. Okay, maybe that one is a stretch, but I promise that for the entire month, I will be uncharacteristically positive about things.