Why, it’s cozy enough to put on another pot of coffee. The snow is gently falling and Thanksgiving is tomorrow. We are dancing into my favorite time of year, beginning with the gathering of loved ones and then into the Yuletide season. It is all beloved to me. And no Thanksgiving has meant more to me than this year. “Home for the holidays” has a sweet place in my heart. I have Percy Faith spinning on the record player and I thought I would set down a moment between housework and write you all.

The deer are all very fluffy right now, and I do wonder what winter holds for us. I shall need to weave a thicker shawl perhaps. As I dust and clean and prepare for tomorrow’s festivities with thirteen people (all of our children) partaking in a feast, my mind wanders so. I have never been happier. I cannot wait to go pick out a Christmas tree. The cats will be so thrilled. Perhaps we can tie it to the window lock and to the front door hinge to keep it upright! Our little cottage is all aglow with love and fairy lights. The clouds have softly settled over the mountains and dusted them with snow.

I completed a painting today of the view out my window. I am so inspired here. I love talking with the neighbors. An elder gentleman around the corner talked to us for some time yesterday on our walk. He was born and raised in that house. He pointed and said his mama was born just yonder over the crick. He pointed out the mine and the tracks where the train took coal away from the mountains here, even when he was a boy. The KKK had a presence here back long ago and his brothers and cousins took pipes and cut off a piece of the rock ledge where KKK had been painted on its face. He talked of the old general store two doors down from me that once supplied everything the coal miners needed on credit. It was run by Italians and they baked bread and other goods in the stone oven outside. He told us about the school and what each building used to be. Our little coal miner’s cottage escaped the fire of 1920. I can imagine the brothels, saloons, and other shops that lined Railroad street. The post office still stands from the 1800’s and is still in use today. How fantastic to be a part of such rich history. My imagination runs wild.

Cozy here in front of the window, my dog curled up on the sofa nearby, and holiday music filling the air, I sigh and smile and am so grateful to be here. I wish you all so much magic and joy and happiness and good eating, and most of all, hope. Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Love, Katie