My thanks this week are especially for all our family and friends, and we hope and wish that you each had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with your dear ones!

Loren’s and my week began with still staying at my brother and sister-in-law’s lake house in New York. We never tire of seeing the effects of the stars and precipitation interacting with the elements of nature, like neighborhood cats and migrating Canadian geese, in and around the lake. It is so often awe inspiring. 

We were soon off to visit a special friend of mine from childhood and her daughter, who live in Pennsylvania. She had prepared Loren’s favorite – her eggplant parmesan, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Then we learned that she had planned to cook a turkey with all the trimmings that go with it for us to also enjoy together! So Loren and I had the privilege of celebrating Thanksgiving twice this week, for which we are very thankful!! Not only were we appreciative, her cat has recently developed somewhat of a voracious appetite, and surprisingly yowled and paced to have some of the turkey too. After our eating, we enjoyed playing a few rounds of the rummy version May I together.

My friend had remembered from when I had visited briefly in July that I had been interested in seeing an episode of A Crime to Remember, which my brother had alerted me portrays the murders of my grandfather’s sister and brother-in-law from before I was born. My friend had kindly arranged to have it available to watch, so we viewed the episode together. It was a more somber experience than what our smiling faces in the photo below reflects. On a happier note, she showed us a medal that she has, which commemorates her grandfather’s placing second in the New York State Division of the Spring Century bicycling race in 1909. If we calculated correctly, he was either 13 or 14 years old at the time. Both a tragedy and a treasure from events of over a half century and a century ago. In the end it was hard to bid our farewells for now…

We returned to the lake house and were again enthralled with the changing scenery just outside our windows which must be kept closed for the unseasonably early cold spell… 

Our Thanksgiving day began with a nice brunch with my family at the Veteran’s Home where my sister-in-law’s father lives, but where was my camera?! Then Loren and I took advantage of the gorgeous blue skies and an error of mine with our GPS that brought us close to the cemetery where so many of my family’s graves are located, including those of my parents. Afterwards Loren and I drove back toward the lake house stopping to see the two privately owned Frank Lloyd Wright architected residences that can be more easily viewed from the road when the leaves are down. What was interesting is that the design of so many of the neighboring homes in this particular area seem to have been influenced by FL Wright’s style. 

Then Loren and I returned home to finish up my contribution to the Thanksgiving dishes. We were going to my brother and sister-in-law’s in the evening so that my one niece who had to work and her beau could join us for dinner. And what a delicious meal it was! We were joined for dinner by a neighbor family, and we all stayed for hours afterwards visiting. 

One of my nieces has a new tattoo, I am thankful too that she has a good reminder for an alternative to fear.