Any month can be cruel. But November has to be one of the top contenders, for its lack of redeeming features. The beautiful colour and crisp clear days of October are just a memory by the time November shows up. November toys with one, one minute seeming like September or October and then just as quickly mimicking the worst of December or January minus the snow. Which isn't to say November can't have snow, oh no, but it is common for it to come as sleet or hail or some other unpleasant manifestation of the white stuff that gives all the grief - slippery roads, winter gear, unhappy pedestrians - with none of the joy and beauty of snowfall. November is truly the cruelest month.