12:32 a.m. - 2002-10-15
Thanksgiving
We had a very nice Thanksgiving Day today.
The mountains were beautiful and appeared to be just an arm's length away. There was an ethereal quality to the light playing off the snow covering their peaks.
Driving to my brother's home we saw golfers wending their way across a local course. Travelling past the Elbow River - our north/south waterway - we saw fisherfolk trying their luck. One man was in hip waders in the middle of a quiet pool of water casting into the flowing river. Others were on gently bobbing boats. The passengers might have been fully awake, but it was hard to tell with their lines trailing in the water and little else moving. Ducks diving and playing nearby. A lot of people just out walking on the pathways nearby, enjoying the day and each other.
Everyone was in a good frame of mind today. It's been a challenging year for each family for one reason or another - almost all work related - but we all seem to have hit a calm patch all at the same time. If it's the calm before the storm or the eye of the hurricane it doesn't really matter. Today we were just happy to be together.
There was a nice variety of dishes and everything tasted great - very little in the way of leftovers. My fifth son spent a couple of years in high school working in a pre-college chef's program and will be going into a hotel management program in the spring semester. I got his seal of approval for both new recipes - the cheesecake and the fruit salad - so I guess I did ok. My second son and his fiance brought dim sum. When they move into their new home at the end of the month, it appears we women will be getting together to learn some of the techniques my daughter in law uses to make spring rolls, dim sum, sushi, and sashimi. I'm really looking forward to learning some new ways to prepare fish/shellfish. Great way to spend Hallowe'en - any trick or treaters at their door will have something unique to show for their troubles.
It is a tradition in families of Scots heritage to have one card or tea cup reader in the family. My Grandmother and my Mom passed on what they knew to me as the oldest girl child. I'm not sure yet who I will be passing the tradition on to, but I think it will be a grandchild. In almost everyone's cards - lots of change and some surprises in store, it appears. Sometimes patterns develop in a group of readings that show broader events in the general community. There were hints, here and there, of things to come but there is always free will - at least in how one responds to the circumstances that present themselves.
By the time I'd looked after my "duties" it was time to go home. My brother presented us with baskets of specialty foods and condiments when we left. Kind of a nice end to a relaxed day.
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