Suddenly I’m slamming into a boatload of things I meant to do before the holiday.   I was going to polish the furniture with the good paste wax; clean the windows; iron my best tablecloth; wash the pretty glasses that never get used until company comes, and….well, you get the picture.

But now my son is home from college with a duffel-bag full of laundry, and his friends are swarming over the house; my husband is about to start a new job, and I just realized I haven’t even bought a turkey yet.  So I’m a wee bit behind.

But I’m still planning to make a pretty arrangement for the mantle.  We have a few mums that survived the cold, and lots of acorns and hickory nuts.  I can weave them into a garland of silk (that is, fake) autumn leaves, along with some blush-colored apples, an ivory-colored pumpkin left from the garden; and a couple of candles placed inside glass globes.  There…that’s one thing done.

Thanksgiving is about bounty.  But even though I’m grateful that our gardens are filled with flowers and foods, I’m remembering to stop and say thanks for simple things, too.  Take a look, for example, at this single aster blossom, with all its glorious color and symmetry. It’s the Tatarian aster, which can look rather like an oversized weed in the landscape, but which earns my respect because it’s late blooming and even holds its looks during light frosts.  (For more about this charming flower, see http://www.floridata.com/ref/A/aste_tat.cfm).

There are many things to be thankful for at this time of year, including the simple gifts of nature!