By Heather Melton, (she/her) UTO Staff Officer

Someone asked me recently what my favorite season of the year is, and without hesitation I said fall. To be honest, I vacillate between fall and spring being my favorites; I think it is influenced by the fact that I really hate hot weather, so I look forward to fall, but I also hate really cold weather, so I look forward to spring. With that said, I love fall and find that my list of things I am grateful for is quite long. From sweater weather to balloon fiesta, to picking apples and searching for the “most sincere pumpkin” in the patch, fall has a lot of good things going for it. From the crisp air to warm spices, I am free from complaints about fall, and I want to prolong it as much as possible. 

While I don’t decorate for Halloween in the summer, I do make sure we let fall unfold as long as I can, and that means making Thanksgiving a big deal. While I won’t bore you with my whole turkey-picking, brining, preparing rituals, or my pumpkin roasting process, I will say that once November rolls around, the focus moves toward rituals of abundance and gratitude. Growing up in a farming community, I know the work that goes into producing the food that we eat, and given the fact that I can’t seem to grow produce beyond potatoes and garlic, I am especially grateful to those who grow, harvest, and care for the food that we eat. 

I’m less thankful for the shorter hours of sunlight, but also grateful that they offer us time to rest and recharge. There’s nothing better than reading a good book by the fire on a chilly evening, so I give thanks for those who create stories and books that inspire our imagination. I am thankful for those who care for people in need, and our family tries to be mindful of what we can share to support those in our community who need it. We give thanks for items that have served us well but have more to give as we pass them along to neighbors and others we haven’t met yet. Each fall my kiddos crack open their “share” bank and make a donation to a charity of their choosing to support work they care about in the world, from feeding programs to buying Christmas presents for kids in need.

Fall is a moment when we give thanks and share the abundance in our lives, however big or small that might be. Years ago, when I started this job, I found myself lost down the rabbit hole of researching the history of Thanksgiving. Needless to say, none of that was taught to me in school, and mostly my ideas of Thanksgiving were shaped by Norman Rockwell and Charles Schultz. I began to curate materials and books for my children so that they would know the real story of Thanksgiving and understand why for our family it is a time of honoring our connections with our community, learning about the people who have called where we live home, and the history of conflict over land. Many of these items can be found here, if you’re looking for resources on Thanksgiving for your family. 

I also wanted to make sure our Thanksgiving celebration included more than just a quick one-liner of gratitude, so I created simple prayers and gratitude conversation dice, which my family use as part of our celebration (and maybe yours does, too) to make sure it is about more than just turkey (although I work hard on the turkey, so it is about that, too!). We also make sure to write down what we are grateful for every day of November—in the past it has been on feathers for a turkey, or decorations to build a cornucopia; regardless of what we put our gratitude on, we are often amazed at the end of the month to see how many people and things have blessed us.

As November begins, I hope you’ll find new ways (or give thanks for your traditional ways) of putting the “thanks” into Thanksgiving and that you’ll share them with me. I’m always looking for ideas or ways to infuse the fall with gratitude, especially after the busy Halloween season and before the busy season of gratitude. While the hours of sunlight are short in November, the days are slower and filled with the chance to give thanks, give back, and connect anew. Send me an email, comment on social media, or text me how you are practicing gratitude this month.