November 2023

November brings Gears to mind:

• Switch gears to Standard Time
• Time to gear up for Winter
• What gear do you want for Christmas

But it's also the season for wrenches falling into the gears …

At least for me it aptly begins as DIA DE LOS MUERTOS (Day of The Dead) – my birthdayMom, did you think I was a wrench in the works?

 I've lost my first wife, several friends and more than one of my dogs.And, in northern Germany, it used to be called the Gray Month for similar reasons along with it being mostly overcast and, indeed, gray.

But November is also the time to lighten up:

It's the beginning of a very festive season – 

DAVID'S BIRTHDAY - I'll be #^%# years old!

ELECTION DAY in America – this day is reserved for voting in our democratic society. If this is so democratic, why do we always think our next elected officials will be crooked? And why is this day olways on a Tuesday where most people need to take time off from their work? … I know why but really don't want to talk about it in the interest of maintaining soemwhat political neutrality on my site. Just a dig: Joe Biden's birthday is in November … "🎼Happy birthday to Joe …"

VEtERANS DAY – AKA ARMISTICE DAY – celebrates the end of The Great War … Hmmm… What was so great about it. It was only one of many severe wars in the 20th Century – And the 21st Century is off to a greater start!

American THANKSGIVING DAY – The Pilgrims in Massachusetts supposedly celebrated the year's successful  harvest (in the snow?) and the blessing of their new home (stolen from the indigenous people?) It's crazy to have this on a Thursday when many of us must be bright and shiny the at work the next day. The Canadian Thanksgiving Day is the most realistic as it celebrates the real end of harvest in September – AND on a more realistic Sunday.

The, of course, comes BLACK FRIDAY where you can happily empty your wallet if you don't mind waiting in line to spend it. I wonder if merchants still think of it as a black bottom-line day.

FIBONACCI DAY is also in November. That's g a great day to just curl up in a Fibonacci Sequence inside an empty Nautilus shell and forget about the rest of the world!