Thursday, November 11, 2010

November

 I selected November as the WeekWord. Why?


November had never been one of my favorite months. I experienced 40 Novembers in Germany, and what I remember is grey, grey, grey. The first frost, the first snow.


Chaos on the roads in the early morning on your way to work. Going to work in the dark, coming back home in the dark. The sun played somewhere else. It was just the beginning of the long and dark season, while completely lacking the warmth of Christmas and being burdened down by somber holidays, only lightened up on Martinstag (I blogged about that special day on Vision and Verb).


Then I moved to California, and suddenly November became something different - often the first rain, desperately needed after months of drought, and oh how lovely is that sound of rain! No more heavy religious holidays, but a celebration of gratitude, a gathering of family and friends. Stunning autumn colors that always amaze me. Autumn at its almost best (nothing can beat October, though).


And through the viewfinder of a camera, both Novembers can look fabulous and give both their very own right. Grey and color, frost and sunshine.


 Please take a look what other bloggers' thoughts on November are. Here are the players:

Christine at Silver Linings 4 ME

Rhonda at Musings on Art

Sally at  Sow and Sew



Mandy at Mandyland

Maria at Simply Cool Stuff

Sally at  Diario

Cath at Musings in Mayhem

Joye at Joyefulart

18 comments:

Rhonda said...

Maybe November in California will replace those other memories with new ones that are good. :-)
Growing up in Southern California was the total opposite for me. I remember it was always 72 degrees and Sunny on Thanksgiving day and the same with Christmas day. We were always able to go outside and play with our new toys, as it was so warm. I always wished for snow. In fact I didn't experience snow until I was 18 years old living in a different state! I love the change of seasons. Thanks for hosting. This was fun.

Cindy Adkins said...

Oh gosh, California Novembers are sure different, aren't they? And such a beautiful picture you told through your wonderful photography!
XO

Anonymous said...

Lovely photos! I have just written about the grey European Novembers you mention...

Cynthia Schelzig said...

Wonderful fotos!!! Love how you compare Germany and CA....both wonderful in their own way but oh so different...so true, so true:) I think I need some of that "Butterball"..........

Domestic Scribbles said...

Beautiful photographs (the frosted flower is my favorite)! Martinstag sounds lovely and is well paired with other countries days of remembrance on 11/11. We should all pin on a poppy, grab a lantern and sing!

Darla said...

You really captured the feeling of November in your photos. We are lucky in CA, we have temperate weather but if we really want snow then it isn't so far away. I never want snow tho, LOL!

Darla

Biomouse said...

I didn't have a lot of time this week to play, but what a gorgeous collage of photos to enjoy this deeply autumnal month. I'm so glad you've found a new appreciation of November here in CA!

cath c said...

lovely contrast of the two novembers! I am in, too, coming to the party fashionably late:

http://musingsinmayhem.blogspot.com/2010/11/few-for-fri-including-weekword.html

La Vie Quotidienne said...

Beautiful Carol...simply beautiful. I can almost smell the turkey but my favorite picture is the last one with the berries.(-:

joyefulart said...

Hi! I am a new week word blogger, and I love your post. I agree completely, I love November!
Joye

Marilyn & Jeff said...

Such beautiful photos, your November is filled with beauty.

Sally said...

Lovely pictures!

I posted a comment on Monday, that I would be doing a Weekword also....could you please edit me onto your list? This is the 2nd week in a row I have been missed off :(

Cindy Adkins said...

Hi Carola,
Thanks so much for coming to visit--hope you're doing great!!
XO

Anonymous said...

Lovely photos, I especially like the misty lake :)

Christine E-E said...

Sorry - I posted late Friday.... here's my thoughts on NOVEMBER
http://silverlinings4me.blogspot.com/2010/11/weekword-november.html

Carola - thanks for such a thoughtful word!

Christine E-E said...

I'm drawn to your nature pics - I suppose it's because I'm learning to use my camera settings... especially loved the frost-tipped orange flower! makes me feel the chill in the air!

perhaps that was taken in another country, several years ago?

Fabulous word choice.... thanks for the inspiration!

Heather said...

Your photos are beautiful. I especially love the photo of the berries.

Silvia(Barnie) said...

Hach, deine Fotos sind immer ein Traum, ich kann mich gar nicht sattsehen.
Gestern hat uns der November ein Schnippchen geschlagen... nach dem es 2 Tage ununterbrochen geregnet hatte, viele Orte mit Hochwasser zu kämpfen hatten, kam gestern die Sonne raus und es waren dann nachmittags bummelige 17° C. Genau mein Ding :) Ich liebe ja die warmen Temperaturen, keine Frage, dass gleich nach dem Mittag ein langer Herbstspaziergang durch den Wald unternommen wurde....
Ansonsten ist der November der Monat, den ich am wenigsten mag, zu dunkel, zu trübe, zu feucht.... er schlägt mir aufs Gemüt.