Home for the Holidays: Daily Gratitude 23

I'm grateful for real apple cider and donuts. You can't quite duplicate them in Louisiana. It's too late in the season to see the presses running, and the fall activities at the farm have all been closed down, replaced with the first crop of Christmas trees. But still. Cider at the farm. Delightful.

I'm grateful that a few tress are still showing their fall colors. Of all the seasons we lose in the south, I miss fall the most. It's the tail end of fall here in Michigan. Most of the trees are bare and the landscape is brown and forlorn. 48 degrees is colder than just about any day in New Orleans. But it makes a cozy sweatshirt all the better, and the warmth of reading in the living room near a fire or gathering around the table for some family competition (games!) all the more welcoming.

I'm grateful for sleeping in, then waking up to pumpkin pancakes. I'm grateful for time to color and play trains. I'm grateful that even though my parents have moved twice since I was married and moved out, their house still feels like coming home.