By Ralphine Major

ralphine3@yahoo.com

Signs are all around us.  The fall season is gradually disappearing.  Football games and fall festivals are winding down.  Colder temperatures are showing up.  The leaves are reaching their peak, finally turning from summer green to red, orange, and yellow.  By the time this column is printed, daylight savings time will already be on the clocks.  Turning one page on the calendar has moved us from October to November.  Time is moving on, and so are our lives.  Many families are already looking ahead to the holiday season and getting ready for Thanksgiving.  Looking at the picture of Daisy helping gather sweet potatoes brings to mind a flurry of memories.

Our father always planted lots of vegetables, and sweet potatoes was one of his favorites.  He learned that my piano teacher, the late Jewel Harris Atkins, was a fan of sweet potatoes and always took her a big bag of them every fall.  Even after I quit taking lessons, I visited her every year during the holiday season and delivered a bag of clean sweet potatoes from my father.

Lots of sweet potato dishes are sure to be on Thanksgiving tables this year—sweet potato casseroles, sweet potato pies, and baked sweet potatoes.  We have a lot to be thankful for as we prepare our hearts and homes for the 2017 Thanksgiving holiday.  As you gather with friends and family to give thanks, have a safe and blessed time of food, fun, and fellowship.  Happy Thanksgiving!