Shh

{Photograph via A.Merrick's Flickr}

I sneakily listened to two Christmas songs.  I made myself stop even though I instantly felt all cinnamony and yuletidey inside.  I'm holding out till the 1st of December to break out into full Christmas cheer.  

This is year 3 of not having a true American Thanksgiving feast and I really miss it.  I miss the lists of special Thanksgiving groceries, the lists of kitchen and decoration duties divvied up, the bustle of prepping, cooking, stuffing, and baking, the smells, the radio theatre presentations of Squanto and the first Thanksgiving, the sharing of our year's worth of thankfulness, the plates piled high, the belts and top buttons being loosened after ample portions of pumpkin pie, and the contented ahhhhh in knowing we are blessed beyond reason.
Malcolm Guite says it beautifully in his poem, Thanksgiving.  {Thanks to my mum in law for showing me this.}

Thanksgiving 

Thanksgiving starts with thanks for mere survival,
Just to have made it through another year
With everyone still breathing. But we share
So much beyond the outer roads we travel;
Our interweavings on a deeper level,
The modes of life that souls alone can share,
The unguessed blessings of our being here,
The warp and weft that no one can unravel.

So I give thanks for our deep coinherence
Inwoven in the web of Gods own grace,
Pulling us through the grave and gate of death.
I thank him for the truth behind appearance,
I thank him for his light in every face,
I thank him for you all, with every breath

Everyone has a stack of Christmas cds or favourite Christmas playlists all ready for their numerous parties, dinners, and next month's life soundtrack, but since it's not December yet and we don't want Thanksgiving to feel left out, I've come up with a little Thanksgiving playlist.  Here are a few for you to enjoy.

Dance Me To The End of Love - The Civil Wars
Man on Fire - Edward Sharpe
Cheek to Cheek- Billie Holiday
A Kiss To Build A Dream On - Louis Armstrong

Sweet Nothings - Brenda Lee

Sous le ciel de Paris - Juliette Greco

You've Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger - Beth Rowley

Ho Hey - The Lumineers

Taking You With Me - Mindy Smith and Daniel Tashian

All That Meat and No Potatoes - Fats Waller

Into the Wild - LP