Best Half of the Year

Yesterday when I opened the refrigerator to retrieve the homegrown cucumbers and zucchini for refrigerator pickles and chocolate chip zucchini cake respectively, I was struck by the beauty of my fridge. Pitchers of iced tea on the top shelves, cucumber salad on the middle shelf and a veggie drawer full of cukes, zukes and yellow squash. This was my reminder that summer is coming to a wistful end and autumn is teasing us.

August to January is undoubtedly my favorite time of year though I hate saying goodbye to the heat and sending Adam back to school. I can still wear flip-flops and go sockless for several more weeks, my kitchen is cranking out wholesome goodness, the air is crisp and the world explodes in golden colors almost overnight. I love hearing the geese honk overhead and smelling bonfires in the air.

Toward the end of the best half of the year comes my most favorite holiday(s): Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Thanksgiving is more provincial since we moved to ND. We used to have huge celebrations of extended family, friends and orphaned acquantices of 40 people or more. The first Thanksgiving I ever hosted in my own home had 42 guests. Most years we'd all meet up in Hawai'i but in recent history it was just a fun-themed (think Mardi Gras in November) party. Now our T-days are more subdued. Though we've had visitors from CA a few times, as we will this year, mostly it's just the 8 of us. I've had to cut back on the number of desserts I make from 2 pumpkin pies, 2 pecan pies, 1 cheesecake, 1 chocolate something and 1 'show stopper' that usually conisided with our theme of the year to 1 pumpkin pie, 1 pecan pie and 1 something else. Pies don't hold much challenge, in my opinion, so I usually like to do something that stretches my baking abilities. No idea what it will be this year. I do miss all the hoopla but still love T-day.

Christmas has become an event unlike any other since we moved. We used to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day going from one house to another, squeezing in our personal family time wherever we could. 5 separate celebrations along with traffic and family dynamics was just too much. Now we have a leisurely Christmas while still including all the family traditions we built over the years as individuals and as a family. It's two full days of good food, fun times, and reflecting on the true meaning of the holiday.

So I'm again happy to see the yellow-orange leaves waving at me in the breeze. It reminds me that we chose to live a slower life in a place where family reigns supreme.