Somber November

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                                  Somber November

Nothing reminds me of the upcoming end of the year quite like November does.  Sure, December _is_ the last month of the year, but it is also filled with distractions, in the form of celebrations and the preparations (and preoccupations) leading up to them.  November, on the other hand, firmly assumes its place on my calendar, highlighted by the turning and falling leaves from the trees around me.In our part of the world, the days are getting shorter, and the nights are becoming increasingly colder.  Soon we will have to endure another winter and I’ll find myself counting the days until spring arrives again.

Gray skies and cold nights seem like a perfect combination for depression, as Thomas Hardy described in his poem At Day-Close in November:

                        The ten hours’ light is abating,

                         And a late bird wings across,

                  Where the pines, like waltzers waiting,

                         Give their black heads a toss.

                 Beech leaves, that yellow the noontime,

                        Float past like specks in the eye;

                        I set every tree in my June time,

And now they obscure the sky . . .But to focus only on the cold, dark aspect of winter is to suggest that it is fair to dislike nighttime only because it is so different than daytime.  Both nighttime and daytime are equally important and un-avoidable cycles that are defined by their antagonistic characteristics.

Breathing and exhaling, day and night, summer and winter, planting and harvesting, these are all examples of diametrically opposed concepts that cannot exist without their counterparts.

And just like a good nighttime routine can help you start the following day, ready to face all its challenges, a good year-end/winter routine will help you prepare for a busy spring and summer.  If you work in the beverage industry, then you are already up to your neck in the “OND” (October-November-December) madness we usually dread yet often desperately need.Remember the madness, take notes of what is working and what is not, then figure out what things to avoid and which ones to repeat during the next unavoidable cycle.

Cheers!

Luis Ayala, Editor and Publisher        

http://www.linkedin.com/in/rumconsultant