It’s Thanksgiving in Canada today, my favourite of all the holidays. There is no stress about gift-giving or assorted challenges other holidays bring. This one is about celebrating a good harvest, enjoying delicious food, and appreciating all the good things and people in our lives. Quite frankly, it’s something we should do far more often than once a year.
This time of year also tends to be reflective for many of us. As the days get darker and the weather cooler, we have more time for introspection. I am pretty good at taking stock throughout the year, but this time of year is particularly emotional. Saying goodbye to the brightness of summer and facing the fact that a long winter is ahead is never easy. It’s also when, sadly, I have to wrap things up in Provence.
The weather has been some of the worst in years: the most rain in September in France for 25 years and the coolest temps in more than that. But there have still been glorious days of bright blue skies, and the views never stop being beautiful. So, I have been grateful for every moment I’ve had.
I’m grateful for my friends here who have made my life so rich. Also, to all the other lovely people I’ve got to know over the years, such as the charming fellows at Mercy cheese shop in Carpentras, or delightful ladies at the flower shop in Beaumes-de-Venise. And, of course, Bianca, the farmer down the road who has returned after a short hiatus to produce the most perfectly delicious and sweet tomatoes. This list goes on.
But I never, ever take the beauty of this place for granted. It is beyond words. Not only are the villages, even the tiniest ones, absolutely charming and picturesque but so are the natural wonders of this place. From the intense blue sky to the fields of olives trees or grapevines. From the mountains to the gorges and river valleys. From rolling hills to the massive plains of the Rhône. From the pockets of intense purple of the July lavender to the pops of red set against green leaves in October. It seems endless, and it fills my heart so profoundly. For all of this, I am deeply thankful.
