The Halls of November

As we pass from one season to the next and put Halloween and the election behind us (strange that they seem somehow connected) and move through the halls of November our thoughts turn naturally, if not somewhat reluctantly, from the colors of Autumn and the sounds of dry crackling leaves under our feet to the sounds and smells of the coming holiday season. The smell of turkey and pies baking, the chatter of friends and family around the table and the swiftness of the retailers to rush us into Christmas.

But there is still a door to pass and that one is Veteran's Day. Back in 1969 when I was in the Navy, the unpopularity of the war in Viet Nam subjected service men and women to the disdain of public opinion and the sacrifices they had made in the name of their country went largely unappreciated by the masses. That is one hallway I would not care to revisit and this Veteran's Day seems almost like a healing salve to the cuts and bruises that unpopularity inflicted.
This Veteran's Day has given me one more thing to be thankful for as I move along the corridor towards Thanksgiving. Not only am I able to write again but I have also been given the opportunity to honor our veterans at the Veteran's Day Ceremony at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota when my niece will read one of my poems-An I.O.U. to the Veterans of The USA-during the event.

No matter what our politics, one thing I think we can all agree on is the fact that the freedoms we have in this country, indeed the country itself, owes a debt of gratitude to the brave men and women who fought, suffered and died for the ideals this country was founded on; Ideals that seem to be especially tested in the halls of Congress as of late. And no matter where we are from, every person living in this country today owes a debt to those same men and women and ideals.

Once past the door of Veteran's Day, the hall becomes shorter and the smells of Thanksgiving dinner once again fill the corridor as we walk, our thoughts turning again to all the things we have to be thankful for in this great country we live in.

And as the Halls of November reach an end with our hearts and stomachs full, we look forward to the closing days of a long year and the coming of Christmas- and just beyond that the New Year and an end to all that holiday music!