Late November Goodness

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by Arundhati Basu

The Happy Holidays banner has been strung up across the streets of Bayonne. Mini snowflakes and golden balls, trees wreathed in fairy-lights are making the evenings a little festive on a certain stretch of Broadway where I pop down for my regular fix of coffee. I am suddenly reminded of the sight of Oxford Street, glittering with dozens of sparkly snowflakes dripping like ornaments upon the busy streets of London where people huddled in their long coats and boots would be clacking down the pavements past windows displaying the best of their Christmas booties. Then onwards to a bar, a gourmet pub to grab a few drinks and then a lovely, hot dinner. The gigantic Christmas trees twirled with shiny strings of fairy lights winking back at us from the fresh market square in Northampton and the one that stood tall and proud before the grand old All Saints’ Church. Let’s see what New York City has in store for us.

Meanwhile the evenings are cold and windy. On days I feel like the wind can lift the scalp straight off my pate. There are a handful of lunatics like me who brave it and continue their daily jogs around the park. A few days ago on the windiest day of all, I took Adi along the Hudson, who refused to give into this strange madness, huddled into his jacket and scarf and cantered home with single-minded determination to get back to the cosy warmth of it.

I have not seen late November so beautiful and golden yet in my life. These are the mixed blessings of life, in Bayonne. My heart fills with some unknown emotion as I lay my eyes upon the trees in the park across from my windows. They are still flaming red and golden, possibly because they are late bloomers who might not have been showy starlets in the early stages of life but later on do startle others with their quiet elegance.

Bands of smoky blue clouds with silver linings, flaming sunsets, quiet sunsets, streaky sunsets, lens flares, gulls gliding in the icy winds above the Hudson, learning to crochet, undoing long woven strips to get this caboodle of knitting in place, reading books on covering fashion in Paris, slipping into Diana Gabaldon’s alternate world of reality through the Voyager, roasting meats and veggies, letting the lemon and verbena candle perfume the air in the rooms, … these are how the November days are slipping by in a harmony of solitude, colour, light and warmth.

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Arundhati Basu

The great affair in my life is to travel. I count myself immensely fortunate that my partner shares this passion. We are a team that likes to spend time planning and plotting out places to go. Destination check, flights check, accommodation check, cheesy grins check. Off we go.

64 thoughts on “Late November Goodness”

      1. Hi Dippy-Dotty Girl!
        I love your blogs new look 🙂 I am doing well. The fall season was really rough for me because I got sick, but I have been healing and am looking forward to a better winter season!

        ❤ Alana

        Liked by 1 person

      6. Yes, it looks great and represents you so well. And I always love your writing. It makes me feel like I am exploring the world too 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  4. I can’t wait to see you chronicle the holidays in NYC so I can live through your pictures! Gorgeous photos as always, and very beautifully written!

    Liked by 1 person

  6. This is all sooo pretty! I already love Bayonne, but I have never seen it in the autumn. Golden Bayonne is a sight to behold!! 😀

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Just the sound of that wind made me cold as I know what it feels like to be on the shore, watching the waves whip up. Such beautiful pictures. Now I must go get my blankie, 😀

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Winds that can lift your scalp off your pate? Yikes, that is some wind! I unconsciously felt my head as I was reading that line 😉 The beautifully colored leaves of the trees in Bayonne sound wonderful. We just hosted Lex’s mother from Oregon for Thanksgiving and your post reminded me of the lovely autumns they have there too. BTW, those waves look serious 🙂 – Neek

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Ah how was Thanksgiving with the mother who loves autumn leaves as much as I do? 🙂
      Those waves are prettty swishy and the wind tempestuous. The scalp has to hold on to what lies beneath it with some stamina, I can promise you that. xx

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thanksgiving was good! My Mom and Dad had a great time with Lex’s mom. We had too much to eat and drink and talk about. Days to treasure… Did you celebrate our tradition of eating mass quantities of turkey? 😉 and having oodles of leftovers for days?

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Tee hee it is like working your upto Christmas is it not? We do that with lots of roast chicken to make sandwiches and quiches to make out of after Christmas lunch.
        We celebrated your famous Thanksgiving Day with roast chicken with mustard powder and Worcestershire sauce. We saved a turkey for some family out there who wants it more.
        Your celebration sounds lovely. Parents coming together over good food and a few drinks. Perfect! xx

        Liked by 1 person

  16. I love that you’re still running in the cold, Dippy-Dotty Girl! I am still doing my novice running program, too, just got some advice from a trusted physical therapist about my gait and also about strengthening my right knee, which is a bit weaker than the left one (knee turns inward when single-leg squatting from an earlier injury). Yay!

    Your observation about the yellow leaves reminded me that last week my son and I walked in our nearby arboretum and the yellow leaves were like snow on the ground and among the trees. What a special time of year. In a few weeks it will all be brown and dark among the trees and on the ground. Until Spring! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yellow leaves like snow on the ground! That sounds beautiful and totally gets my experience yesterday of walking through the parks. I am not in love with the brown and dark but I suppose even starkness has its own kind of bleak beauty.
      It is commendable that you are pushing yourself in the cold and working on your injured knee. All the best and invigorating hugs for the next few weeks. xx

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Yes, I’m not sure why I have never noticed the yellow-leaf effect before, in all the years I have lived here in rainforest-y Seattle. I suppose there’s always something new to come to one’s attention, eh? 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      1. I’m dirty I should have mentioned it was Celsius not Fahrenheit! I keep forgetting the differences! 30 degrees Celsius! It’s been very warm already!!
        Great to hear about the new hobby love. Enjoy. ❤️

        Liked by 1 person

  19. Ah, this season! It certainly gets under one’s skin….before it mercilessly dries it out. Those lovely golden leaves! I’m with Adi, though, I’d have headed back, made a cup of mulled cider, and curled up on the couch with a good book.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. ‘Mercilessly dries out’. Beautifully put and a darned thing indeed. I wish we could hold onto things longer but well life would be easier then.
      Mulled cider. Sounds delicious and hey a good book is always at the end of my days to wrap it up nicely with a bow. If Adi had his way, our eyes would detach themselves and stick to the TV screen. My husband is a stickler for laziness as am I, so you can imagine that I carry the impetus of shaking things up at home 🙂 xx

      Liked by 1 person

  20. You paint a beautiful picture of fall. That’s fun you are learning to crochet, too. I’m sitting here with a wonderful blanket my aunt crocheted for me. A few years ago, she also taught me how to crochet when I went home. Might take a few minutes for it to come back to me now…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Jen. Just the first yarn over and you would be knitting like a pro again! I am trying to perfect the art because who likes imperfect knits. Crocheting is wonderful, also because it makes me sleep well. xx

      Like

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