Wishing You a Happy Thanksgiving! 🍂☕️📚

🦃 Goodbye, November! 🍂

Thanksgiving dinner growing up was usually at my grandmother’s house in the city. About a dozen of us (ten family members plus a guest or two) gathered around her table (which was designed for eight people) and enjoyed the traditional turkey and dressing with all the trimmings. There was always home-baked apple and pumpkin pies for dessert. It was elbow to elbow above and a few kicks between siblings below the table. I’m sure my younger brother kicked me first! One of my favorite memories of the meal is the tiny thimble-sized taste of wine that we each got to have, even us kids, on that day. Alcohol wasn’t a part of our everyday life so it seemed very special.

The gas fireplace has been turned on for the cooler months now that we are officially in the rainy season. The shrubs and trees have been pruned and trimmed and the garden tools are in the shed till next spring. Even the goldfish in the outside pond have put themselves to bed for the winter. They eat less starting in October as the weather cools and the water temperature drops.

One day I didn’t see a single one of them lazing in bottom of the pond, even though it was a sunny day. My first thought was that one of the local blue herons had paid a visit and helped itself to fresh sushi! I knew they couldn’t have all died at once because their little bodies would have been floating at the top. And my husband swore he hadn’t used any poisons recently.

When I looked more carefully I could see some orange and pink shapes inside the upside-down milk crate that gives them a place to hide. There are fifteen fish in all, seven adults and eight juveniles, snuggling (do fish snuggle?) in a 14x14x14 inch space. It called to mind how Anne Frank and her family hid behind the bookcases in a home in Amsterdam. Julia Fairchild and Carly visited the Anne Frank house in my book Rembrandt Rides a Bike, which has a new, happier cover more in line with the lighter mystery mood.

Until next time, happy reading!