Pi Bo Id Mo

November is often seen as a rather gloomy month, as autumn gives way to winter in what can be a series of dull, grey days. My mother used to quote the poem by Thomas Hood that begins “No sun — no moon — no morn — no noon” … and ends “November.” Evocative and well-written as that poem is, it is still a bleak and cheerless view of the month. Although November does have its bleak moments — especially weather-wise around here — and there is some personal heartache associated with the month as well, for me there is now a big ray of sunshine that permeates every day of this month, turning it from NO-vember to PiBoIdMo-vember, and filling it with the light of creativity. Yes. I said Pi Bo Id Mo. (There’s some controversy about the pronunciation. I say it PIE-BOW-ID-MOW.) For an explanation, just click the magic words.