This Thanksgiving break has been nice on the Outer Banks. The weather has been in the upper 40's to 60’s. The kids were in the house all at once so I was able to get a “family photo ”. Friends of my boys who have moved away came back for the holiday. It was nice to see them even with the beatnik beards and the extra body piercings.

I worked Friday, which is affectionately known as black Friday but not for the reason retailers call it that, the ED was steady and no one died on my shift so it was a good day.

Today I will pull out the Christmas stuff and my youngest son and I will go pick out the tree, yes I still prefer the real trees I like the uncertainty of the way its going to look. For the next week I will deck the halls. I love Christmas lights. This is the time of year when stop lights with their red, green and gold remind me of Christmas. The other day on my way to my oldest sons house I saw a home decorated with Christmas lights and I had just a tinge of that Christmas feeling. Soon the firemen with their boot and the Salvation Army with their bell will be at the local stores and more of that Christmas feeling will come. Two weeks before Christmas I will be fully anticipating Christmas.

I like December, I don't like the shopping but I like the feel of December. It is the darkest month but we light it up with Christmas lights. By the end of the month the days are getting longer and we take down our lights. The air is cool but people seem to be warmer to each other. This is the time of year when I see people I have not seen all summer. We meet on the street, at party’s and in the isles of stores and catch up on the past year. It can take hours to get out of the grocery store and I allow for that extra time. I like catching up with friends and acquaintances. I like December.