Thankful/Thanksgiving, a Blow by Blow Account

The Barn
Originally uploaded by suzipaw

It was indeed the holiday I had hoped for. Absolutely glorious weather, excellent food, down time, sleep, beach, quality family time, with a little football (on TV) thrown in for good measure. I'm thankful I had those days with family and friends. I'm thankful my overindulgences weren't too extreme. I'm thankful I live in a beautiful place with wonderful people in my life. I need to remind myself of what I'm thankful for more often.

And now, the excruciating detail: We arrived at mom and stepdad's on Wednesday late afternoon. We had a nice dinner and M started in on creating his now famous dinner rolls. Another family friend arrived later and we all went to bed early--it gets very dark there.

Thanksgiving day dawned, as aforementioned, gloriously. M and I took Rex to the beach in the morning, a beach we don't go to often since the road was closed after it started falling into the creek wending its way at the bottom of the hill below. But it's a pleasant if longish walk to the shore, the cows in the pasture eyeing us suspiciously as we passed. A little mist in the air obscured visibility and the lighthouse far down the beach. We saw several kinds of ducks swimming along in the little estuary, cormorants sunning themselves along the creek bank. The sea was active. No seals were spotted. We walked along the beach, coming within 50 feet of a large bird of prey, perched on a log near the last turn of the creek before it spilled into the sea. It swept up to a cliff perch, then zoomed off, twisting after a few hapless ducks on its way behind the bank, reappearing a few moments later to glower at us as we observed Alder Creek sliding into the Pacific. On the way home we stopped dead in the road to watch a large bobcat slinking across a sheep pasture, though he stopped to stare at us staring at him before thinking better of it and running off.

Back home, M put the turkey on the grill and he and Don took turns at target practice from the front porch while us gals took turns making a couple of dishes each--sweet potatoes layered with apples, creamed spinach, baked brie, mashed potatoes, gravy, roasted squash, cranberry relish. No dressing, which I later declared I missed. M's rolls, reluctant to rise, from a Cook's Illustrated recipe, were handfuls of browned heaven. We ate slowly from Mom's Desert Rose china, Rex staring meaningfully at us each in turn. A rest from eating by the fire and TV, and then on to pie, clean up, and another early night.

Friday was another summer-like day. A quiet morning, a neighbor's visit, then Mom, JeriLu, Rex, and I went to scout Oz Farm for the reunion. We were worried that the property would be booked and unavailable for touring, but we lucked out. A few people were there, but two of the managers, hearty, fresh-looking lasses, hippie chicks of the new millennium, welcomed us and encouraged us to wander around. So we did. It was a bit like déjà vu for me--very familiar, but of course very different from thirty-five years ago. I know that the spectacular weather was a part of it, but I think it's going to be a perfect place for our reunion. (All of the cabins now have an outhouse, sink, and electric light thanks to roof-mounted solar panels!) Another trip to the beach--this time the air was achingly clear--a dinner of leftovers, a pinch of TV, and a couple of very deep conversations closed the day.

Saturday we meant to leave after breakfast, but the sofa and fire conspired into a siren song for M, and his midmorning nap pushed into lunch. I packed up a goodly quantity of Mom's pottery to sell at work this week, and made a little video to show to prospective buyers.

And now it's back to the gym, back to refraining from eating dark chocolate caramels sprinkled with chunks of sea salt at 10 in the morning, back to a chilly house with no fireplace. Well, Christmas is coming, and the solstice is less than a month away--A Good Thing indeed.

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It's been an especially busy week at work, but I did manage to pull off the craft fair today at lunchtime. Mom's work was once again extremely popular!