“In November, the trees are standing all sticks and bones. Without their leaves, how lovely they are, spreading their arms like dancers. They know it is time to be still.”

— Cynthia Rylant, In November

Here November is, a precursor to the long hard slog of a Canadian winter, and what a chilled November it is. It’s a month of in-betweens and a month of rushing: to get out of the cold, to enjoy what daylight there is, to get our shopping done or take advantage of the sales, to hurry toward our still-far-off holidays and the new year, anything to distract us from right here, right now.

It is, in short, a month that threatens misery and exhaustion…unless you decide to make like the clever creatures of the wild and get cozy. Unfortunately, we live in a society where human hibernation is not really viable (although maybe it could be one day), but that doesn’t mean we can’t get into the spirit of settling in somewhere warm and indulging in comfort.