I love Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. I love the food, I love the thoughts that go along with the whole thing, but some years I love it more than others. Some years it is easy to love the holiday and other years it is a wee bit more difficult. This would be one of the latter years. My mind wants to prepare this large and lavish meal for my family, but my family is all somewhere else except the Kincaid's and they will be my God-send. It had looked a lot like it would be Joyce and Jock for the Thanksgiving meal....good and all but not special without some extra serious mental work to make it special. Each day is special and each holiday is special if we choose to make it so. I just like the easy ones that are special because there are so many family and friends around that it couldn't help but be special. Those others take work, they are well worth it but they take work all the same. Linda and Curtis will make it feel like more than a normal dinner that we have around here...you can count on Linda for that kind of stuff!

I know Nancy will be going to Jace's family for Thanksgiving. Haven't heard the plans at the Campbell house but they have family in the area so I guess they have options. Same with the LJ Godsey group, her family is all in the area so they have options too. In my own little heart I hope they are all together, the LJ Godsey group and the Campbell's, but I suspect they aren't. Having them together would be wonderful but things don't always work that way. I know Lawrence and Michelle spend many important dates with her "familish" as she calls them. And I also know there are lots of Campbell siblings in the area that Emily and James enjoy. And I must always remember, Joyce and Jock count us as family so it is a family gathering of more than it appears here.

But I still miss the days where my grandparents would come, my parents would be here, Luzvie, Emily, Linda, Lawrence and Nancy were all around the table. Good times....please take time to remember good times like that and be thankful for them, just like I am. Memories don't just happen, they are built and I cherish the memories I built around my family as they were all mine.....mine in heart as well as physically. Eat turkey and be thankful.....

Make mine RED

This would represent the beginning of the project. I decided that I wanted something different and had to limit the price greatly, so what do you do under those circumstances? You paint, and you paint something really different. I have always painted every space a shade of white. Some are tinted green, some orange but all basically white. I have this wood stove known in my heart as Belching Bertha, and she insists on putting soot all over everything on an all to regular basis. After dealing with this monstrosity for nigh onto 30 years I came to an understanding, more color means less visable soot. With that thought in mind I painted the living room gold a few years ago. I liked it. I painted the family bathroom Orange and I liked that too. Then came Nancy's joking that I should paint her room yellow (hay, I thought she was being serious!) so it is now bright yellow. Curtis said the beach bathroom would be nice in a rich copper....it is. Next step, a red kitchen with white cabinets and, while on a roll, a red dinning room.

Do I like it? Yes, I think I do. It is still in process and I will post a picture when it is completed so the jury is still out. But I think I will like it just fine. It is almost all painted now, one wall in the dinning room left and it has the first coat but I ran out of paint and it is the Sabbath so I will continue on Monday after a store run. It also helped to put in a new light fixture in the dinning room, one that actually pushes out some candlepower! It is so nice to be able to read in the dinning room and it brings out the rich red color without making it look Christmas like.

Next project, well besides finishing what is started, is the hallway. But I am thinking of waiting on that until after this weekend with Nancy being home and her bridal shower. She doesn't need to deal with the mess and my hands are saying they would like a day or two off painting. Painting puts such pressure on thumbs and mine are weak to start with. And now they are loudly complaining about the abuse! But the eyes are happy and the whole thing makes me feel good, so the hands will have to accept the problem with grace.

Now off to church. Primary program is today so it will be a strange and crazy day. I am glad these only happen once a year but I certainly see the validity of them happening. Ours will be acceptable but not a particularly exceptional presentation. I had expected more what with Karol being President, but she has been sick and others have taken charge and have not pulled it together particularly well. But it will be done and that is the big thing.

Halloween

The final day of October means Halloween has arrived yet one more time. I have read that it is the second most popular date on the calendar, greater than birthday celebrations for many children. Although they say Easter is gaining in popularity and Christmas, of course, is still number one. Why....Candy of course! And Christmas has to be the presents as well as the food. But I was thinking of Halloween the way we did it growing up. It was certainly much different than today and yet, when you look at it, almost the same.
My parents did not subscribe to holidays for the most part and Halloween was one of the least observed. As little children we would wear self created costumes to Woodland Hall and the Maxwelton Community Club would hold a function for all the children in the community. We would have desserts and games, apple bobs and pin the something on the something are the only two I remember. Most of it was an excuse to just get together and talk I suspect. I do remember that I enjoyed the night out.
As we got old, maybe eight and up, we didn't do anything organized. Leland and I would cross dress usually and head to our Uncles house and Grandparents houses, but that was as far as we were ever allowed to go. The cousins were driven to a more densely populated community and came home with pillow cases full of candy. We usually had no candy but a cookie and/or popcorn ball. I thought having that much Candy would be the most wonderful thing in the world.
Then in about the 5th grade I was invited to a friends house for Halloween and they were going trick or treating. My first (and only) time so I was greatly excited. We dressed up in put together things, then covered them with rain gear as it always rains on Halloween! And off we walked. It was fun for awhile and then it stopped being fun when we got to an older woman's house, the group of us was maybe 10 or 12 girls, and she ran out of candy. I was at the back of the group and she said she would go find some money for us but begged us not to do anything bad to her. Looking at her terror of the situation really affected me, I just hung back from there on out and collected no more candy, and then went home feeling kind of low. In our rural community everyone went to the densely populated areas and harvested, they had to invest huge amounts of money on our behalf....and thus ruined Halloween as I thought about it.
Today it is all well again. The children go to the church and we take care of our own. They dress up and get candy while the adults get desserts and visiting. Hummmm...the circle has come around and it is a good place to be. I again love the day and look forward to maybe being a little more involved in costumes next time around. I got to make some costumes for Emily's kids a couple of years ago and it was grand fun. I would like to do that again in the future. But for now I will just enjoy the fact that it is a fun excuse to pretend and enjoy people and food.

A Day Away

I found myself annoyed at the walls that I deal with day in and day out so I decided to take a trip. Mind you, I had neither time nor money for a trip so I made it a short trip! This is Lake Wenatchee State Park. I thought the leaves were beautiful and it reminded me of a picture my mother painted again and again. She painted a scene like this in the summer colors, the spring, touched with snow in the winter and, of course, he most favorite, in fall finery. I can't say as I left home thinking this was where I was going, but I kind of found myself here as I was following paths I used to take 30 plus years ago. Lots has changed in those 30 years, but many things have not changed. The leaves are just as beautiful, the roads nearly as empty, the woods more full of homes and the feeling almost the same. It was one of my favorite running away places all those years ago.

I enjoy my job as a teacher, as a mom and grandmother, but I really do get tired of the sameness of my life. Each day is pretty much like the day before and like the day that will follow. I guess that comes with doing most everything alone. I am content most of the time, but sometimes I just need to look at something more than home turf has to offer.

I remember going to New York City eons ago, alone, and thinking how much alone a person could be surrounded by litterly millions of people. I walked down Wall street, down 5Th Avenue and Broadway alone. There were crowds everywhere but it was still one of the most alone times of my life. I spent almost 10 days wandering the city alone. And the reality, that was not a problem. I have always enjoyed my own company and nothing much has changed. I find it easier to be alone sometimes than in the presence of people that fail to recognize you exist. That is the kind of alone feeling that is most difficult. Walking the Wenatchee River with Daisy dog didn't feel alone at all, but surrounded by people that fail to recognize I have a personality, needs and interests, well, that is the core of being alone...the negative alone. I have come to the conclusion that alone is more a mental thing than a physical thing. You can combat a physical alone feeling, but the mental, well, that is different. That said, I need to stay in contact with me and my adventures out into the world are those times to stay in contact with me....well, unless someone better comes along!

generations

Anyone that does not believe life is an on going process needs only to look at these two men working side by side, or kind of side by side. They go out to the orchard and load their wheel barrows with the clippings and then they head to the garden to deposit them to be composted back into the soil. James could not be more pleased with himself than when he is outside doing his "work" for the day. And I don't think I need to comment on how pleased his Grandfather is to have him tagging along. He complains frequently but I don't think he would trade these minutes for the world. Talk about power, watching your life and knowing it is going to continue long after you leave this earth. It tickled me.

Fall started today and I will have to admit I was not ready for that to happen. August was such a cold month that the heat of September was really welcomed. Particularly when it cooled down every evening so sleeping was always possible. But today we are back to the gray that is the trademark of Washington. It is good but....

I went out and picked another batch of blackberries this noon. The strange weather of the last two months has given us a good crop. The blackberries are fat and, for the most part, juicy. Some are pretty dry but you just pick around them. I think we take our abundance for granted sometimes. How many areas can walk down the road and harvest enough blackberries to make a crisp and do it within 15 minutes? That is pretty unique to the Island, pretty unique to our rural area and something I will always appreciate.

Chimney sweep

I want to tell you there was no boy on the face of the earth that was more proud of himself than my boy yesterday. This picture was taken after he had attempted to clean up a little bit! Somehow boys and dirt just go hand in hand, no matter the age.

Tuesday Larry went over to the Hoch's place to help Glen with a stove pipe issue. I guess they had their share of challenges getting the thing to work right, and did a lot of cleaning in the process. Two big boys playing chimney sweep must have been nothing but cheap entertainment. I guess they even left some rather tell-tale evidence in the size of Glen's posterior on the furniture! That I am sure went over well with Debbie! But it now works and the wash machine did a job on the cloths while the big guy hit the shower and scrubbed the rest off. What did the women of yesterday do with such a mess? I guess they scrubbed extra long and extra hard....I am glad I get to do it the easy way!

Logan McKay

The scales have tipped to the male side, but in a very pleasant way. On September 3rd, about 7:30 in the evening Linda and Curtis welcomed little Logan McKay into the family. Now I admit Little was never an adjective that I thought I would be using in conjunction with Linda's family, but it applies this time. He is a small child, 7 pounds and 11 ounces and almost 21 inches in length. For the Kincaid section of the family that is down right tiny! But he is well, he is healthy and Linda had a relatively easy delivery. There has never been an easy delivery, want to get that out right away, but the arrival of Logan was about as uncomplicated as you can get.



Babies all look like babies, a couple of differences as to size and color, but they all look like babies. That said, he seems to favor Curtis. That is good in that James really favors Linda in many, many ways. It only seems fair that Curtis has a child that looks like him too.



With the birth of Logan I have had the privilege of watching Master James for a couple of days. He loves being on Island, not because he really enjoys me but because he loves the freedom and the entertainment. He arrived at the house late but the first thing in the morning he wanted to see the puppy i.e. Kayla and he wanted to go out with Papa. They spent several hours outside just doing guy things. Good for all concerned. And, of course, they break every once in a while for trampoline time. That is the best to watch. James crawls up on the chair and onto the trampoline, Kayla bounds up and lays down on her back so that James can bounce her around. That is the most strange thing, dogs are not supposed to like being bounced on their backs but she appears to love it. If dogs could giggle I think she would! Emily had no idea what a nut this dog truly was, although she did know she was going to be a fun dog.