Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

I survived! (Actually, I more than survived, I had a good time.) My mother and I went to visit my brother (Jon) and his fiancee (Vanessa) in San Diego for Thanksgiving. I have to admit that I was a little worried when my brother told me that there would be seven people (the four of us, Vanessa's mother, grandmother and brother), and two dogs (though very small dogs) in a two bedroom/one bathroom house. For a week! "Humm." I though,"I wonder how that will work? Where will they put us all? And for a week!" But, to be fair, we did basically the same thing last year at Christmas time, so I knew it would be OK. "And besides," I tried to reassure myself, "much of the rest of the world does this all the time!" And it worked out well. Every room in the house was filled with at least one bed, and there was very little room to move until the beds were put away for the day, but all in all it was good. There was a feeling of having a great big, on-going, sleep-over every morning. Everyone woke, or at least started moving around, at about the same time in the morning. Jon made coffee and we sat on the beds in our P.J.s and drank it, while cuddling with the dogs and generally being lazy. It took a while for everyone to get dressed and ready to start the day, what with having only one bathroom, but that just added to the sleepover feeling.

Most of our days were spent being very mellow and relaxed. Jon and Mom put together a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and did a marvelous job doing it, even working around the limitations of an "apartment sized" ( i.e. one pan) oven. Vanessa picked the Turkey recipe and Jon and Mom spent hours making sure it came out golden and delicious! And then, a day or two later, Mom and I turned our Thanksgiving dinner (sans cranberries and sweet potatoes) into a wonderful pot pie! (I love, love, love pot pie -- I know that some people prefer mac and cheese as a comfort food (and it is one of mine, I admit), but for me, in the fall, winter, and spring (which is most of the time in Chicago), my comfort food is a turkey pot pie! Yum!)

We didn't tend to do much touristy things. It is hard to get up enough momentum to get seven people out the door on an adventure. Have you ever noticed that? This is not an unique observation, I know, but the more people there are, the harder it is to get them all moving! And to make decisions. A lot of our conversations repeated the pattern of, "I don't know, what do you want to do/eat/etc." So, by default (both for lack of a decision, and to pass time while people were walking dogs and bathing, etc.) we watched a lot of movies. I think I watched more movies in one day than I ever have before: five. But they were all good films -- or at least interesting. And it was nice to just sit and let time pass. (I think I'm stocking up on American experiences -- films, TV, whatever, so that I will be glad to be without them on my trip! -- I'll let you know if it worked).

We did have a couple of adventures. The most humorous, and also the saddest, was the Adventure of Leo's Tail (This is still a working title). Poor Leo was bitten by something. And, being a dog, kept "scratching it" with his teeth. So, after a while his tail became a bit messy (not too bad, but not getting any better either). The day after Thanksgiving, Jon and Vanessa took him to the vet. They were still gone about two hours later -- the rest of us were wondering what had happened to them -- the vet was only a 10 minute drive away. When they finally showed up, the poor puppy had a big plastic cone on his head! He looked so silly! And so pathetic. And he knew it. He milked it for all it was worth, though, getting sympathy love from seven different people!

We dispersed a bit on Monday -- the boys going to the University (one to teach, the other to observe) and the girls going to Coronado Island and then on a chilly, but beautiful, quest for "the lighthouse." We finally made it just as the sun was setting.

In the movie A Clockwork Orange there is a scene where the "hero" returns home and, in the background, there is a song playing on the radio. Whoever put together the soundtrack included it in the "playlist." (I know this because that was one of the tapes (am I dating myself?) that I listened to regularly while working in the art studio or the geology lab in college). The song goes something like this:
I want to marry a lighthouse keeper
and live by the side of the sea.
I want to marry a lighthouse keeper
and keep him company.
Those lines were running through my head the entire time I was at the lighthouse. I've always wanted to live in a lighthouse. I think I could handle it (even enjoy it) for a year or two, more would drive me crazy -- though I said the same about living in Chicago proper, and I was there for about 8 years. I must say, though, that I don't envy the children the five mile row-boat ride, or the 18-mile horse back ride, to school every day! (both of those are one-way distances, by the way.) Can you imagine how strong your arms would be after a 5-mile row?!

On Tuesday everyone left. And by everyone I really mean Mom, Danny and me. But we were 3/5 of the guest population, so that counts for a lot. After taking Mom and Danny to the airport, and watching another movie, Vanessa's mother, grandmother and I wandered around the San Diego Natural History Museum. It is very small, and does not have very much exhibit space, but the paleontology/life in California exhibit is very good. There is a sense of whimsy in how it was put together that is delightful. It also does a good job of encouraging people to try to think scientifically by asking them to draw their own conclusions based on the evidence. For instance, one display showed a humerus from a mammal and asked the participant to decide if the animal had been a runner, swimmer, or climber, based on comparisons with living (well, now dead) animals that were runners, swimmers, and climbers. Very Cool! I also liked the way they depicted the dinosaurs. The skeleton was mounted inside a skin depicting what we think the dinosaurs looked like. It is interesting to see the relationship between the bones and the skin. It makes the bones more accessible.

And then I hoped on a plane and flew to Las Vegas. I'll tell you all about that trip next time!