NOVEMBER

November 22, 2024

NOVEMBER

“Fallen leaves lying on the grass in the November sun bring more happiness than the daffodils.” — Cyril Connolly

Hello,

BEFORE WINTER

I’ve always liked Autumn, especially the month of November, which gives us, in the norther hemisphere, a nice break from the intense heat we endured during the long Summer months. What is more, November temperatures gives us a little bit of time to prepare, a warning if you will, before the cold days of winter arrive.

November gives the impression of being an exceptionally random month: It is neither cold nor hot, days are neither long or short; if I presumed to know how to count, November is not the beginning of the year, but not quiet the end. Trees are not fully naked nor they have all their leaves. In fact, If I look around carefully, nature in general cannot pretend to know exactly what to do in this month.

SOME CHANGES

_ November comes from the latin word Novem, which means "nine"_ it retained its name after the Romans added January and February to their calendar. Lunar cycles, religious and secular holidays, political agendas, the harvest season, and accuracy on the calendar, all of these, were important reasons for the changes.

This time of year is perhaps, the happiest for me. If I could regroup things, I would stretch Autumn for ten months. The rest of the year, it'd be assign to Spring, lasting for forty five days and Winter for exactly two short weeks. Did anybody mention Summer? I imagine, I'd get rid of the bastard all together!

Rearranging the seasons this way, could be a dream come true, it would be the perfect year, even though, Vivaldi's four seasons as we know it, would not exists. I do wish a lot of things, but there are just a wish, some of them don't mean much, others, mean a lot less than the previews ones.

A TRAGIC SIDE

I do, however, feel something in the air arrives along with November. I get to feel something is ending and something exciting is replacing it. A brand new beginning fully packed with projects, and good intentions. November could easily be the dawn of an exciting, fresh new year, and at the same time, just as well; a farewell, to the one ending.

However, November also, has a tragic side to it. It is a time, of which, things change rapidly, leaving me somehow empty, because nothing remains the same. There is a poem by Thomas Hood that speaks about this emptiness:

No sun - no moon!

No morn - no noon -

No dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day.

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,

No comfortable feel in any member -

No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,

No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! -

November!

November Rain by Gun's and Roses, speaks also about emptiness, darkness and falling out of love, due to the changes we all inevitably face.

When I look into your eyes

I can see a love restrained

But darlin' when I hold you

Don't you know I feel the same?

Nothin' lasts forever

And we both know hearts can change

And it's hard to hold a candle

In the cold November rain

LIGHT DEMEANOR

Despite all the negativity one can say or feel about life in November, it's still, for me, the happiest time of the year. Contrary to the poem by Hood and the song by the rock band, _ and as if I wanted to to reinforce the merry times I have experienced_ I've written a piece to show November's light demeanor.

Capturing the joyful energy floating in the air,_ a powerful energy mixed with the partial darkness lingering on the surface of the earth, during November._ was equivalent to falling in love, all over again. The acute ache in my heart was both, welcoming and disagreeable, but at the end, the message was all to clear to be ignore.

FALLEN LEAVES

The melody calls for receptiveness, asking me to be present at every turn, it says: take a deep breath, go on, "stop and smell the roses", just be a human. The Allegro in the key of C Major was, I thought, the perfect concoction for a lighter piece of music.

If you happen to be listening to this piece, I know you'd feel November's big presence, and as Autumn turns into Winter, I wish you'd appreciated simple details, like all the fallen leaves on the grass in the beginning of the season.

MUSIC Information: