It’s Thanksgiving Day. . .giving thanks every day.
Thank you for the food we eat,
Thank you for the world so sweet,
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you God for everything. Amen.
We give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. -ritual chant
Happy Thanksgiving!
Two days to Thanksgiving Day. . .giving thanks everyday.
“Grandchildren are the dots that connect the lines from generation to generation.” Lois Wyse
Today I am thankful for generations of dots that connect the lines of my life: my three children, my four grandchildren, and, as of 2:22 a.m. yesterday, my first great-grandchild. I am also thankful for the dots that came before me to create a continuous line, my great-grandparents who were gone before I existed, my grandparents, three of whom were still alive and I grew up knowing and caring about, and my parents, particularly my mother.
The birth yesterday of Aubree also made me reminisce about this new great-granddaughter’s connections to the extraordinary women who came before her in our family: my strong grandmothers, Mabel and Lempi; my talented Mom, Martha; smart daughter Kelle; and sweet pea grand-daughter Mary. And to think that Aubree has the same sort of line of connection through her mother Allison! When I found the quote I thought “Wow, Ms. Wyse has already put into perfect words what I have been thinking.”
Aubree yesterday – just a few hours old! Before she was born I called her “Miss Baby Girl.” Maybe this name will stick?
The dots are not all girls. Grandson Jorden and his new daughter.
This is Papa with our three youngest grandchildren, Stanley, Mary and Will. Our nickname for these three talented youn’uns is “The Little Ones.”
Gary and I are very sure that God blessed us with the best grandchildren in the world!
One thankful Grammie!
Three days to Thanksgiving Day. . .giving thanks everyday.
"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and avoid the people, you might better stay home."Today I am thankful for my full time RVing lifestyle. Yes, I dearly love the traveling and my fifth wheel home (and my traveling companion-Gary, you know who you are) but today am thinking that I am SO thankful that I travel because I have the opportunity to try so many kinds of food!
“Go thy way, eat thy bread with job, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.” Ecclesiastes 9:7
At one point we decided that we would buy a bottle each of white and red wine made in each of the states we traveled through. This worked for awhile until someone in one of the (not to be named) southern states advised us NOT to buy their wine – said it was terrible. So, we abandoned this plan.
Later at Biltmore Estates winery we had to make sure the wine we bought was made from local North Carolina grapes and not California grapes which is the case for the majority of their wines. This New Mexico Blue Teal Pinot Grigio and Gruet sparkling wine were both good.
Grandson Jorden getting up close and personal to his Texas BBQ and pinto beans at Rudy’s BBQ. Rudy’s is located adjacent to a gas station!
More BBQ-this time Memphis style at Central BBQ.
And more BBQ at the Charles Vergos’ Rendezvoux in Memphis. The entrance to the Rendezvous is in an alley! Sweet tea is a must in the South.
Hush puppies, a southern (and my) favorite!
Another favorite is MiTierra Restaurant & Bakery in San Antonio, Texas, Tex-Mex at its best. I was enjoying the company of my long-time friend Sandy so much I forgot to take a photo of the colorful restaurant and/or food!
Hurricane Ike did a real number on Galveston but thankfully El Gusto survived! My favorite there is their $3.99 breakfast burrito.
In New Orleans Beignets at Café du Monde are a must. I bought a mug to help preserve the memory of those hot puffs of dough and hot chocolate. Gary had traditional chicory coffee with his beignets.
We love finding out-of-the-way dives but even we may not have tried Susie’s Seafood in Morgan City, Louisiana if we’d seen it in the daylight! Inside it was packed with families eating at long red-checkered tablecloth tables laden with overflowing trays of crawfish. My first experience of eating crawfish – I was hooked!
My high school classmate, LDee told us that G & M Restaurant in Baltimore serves the best crabcakes. And was he ever right! Yes, we had a “doggy bag” that day too.
I don’t know how often I had lobster during our eleven weeks in Maine but know it was a lot! Gary concentrated on the delicious haddock which is available in the northeast.
Our final day of volunteering at Lamoine State Park was a lobster cookout. Here are lobster all ready for steaming.
Steamed and ready to eat. By the end of the summer I was cracking and eating them almost as efficiently as a Mainer!
And then there were also sopapillias in New Mexico, etouffee in Louisiana, catfish especially in Arkansas, New York and Chicago style pizza, the diners on the east coast, tamales in Natchez, fried chicken at Gus’, BBQ in Arkansas, Five Guys burgers (Gary said I had to add this fast food burger place-he loves it!), and, of course, we were more than ready for calamari once we were back in Monterey
So, this full-time RVer is REALLY thankful that the traveling lifestyle affords me the opportunity to try delicious food all over our wonderful country.
YUMMY
Four days to Thanksgiving Day. . .giving thanks everyday.
“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.”—Langston Hughes
Today I am thankful for rain. . .and it is, as my Mom used to say, raining cats and dogs! I also happen to love rain, love the sound of raindrops on the roof of our RV home, love to watch the drops splashing and love walking in the rain – hey, I am waterproof!
Maybe this love stems from the fact that my home has always been in low rainfall states. I am a North Dakota native where the average rainfall is 17.8”, 43rd in ranking in the U.S., and my current home state of California ranks 40th with 22.2” per year.
It’s hard to capture rain in a photo.
The rain barrel is almost full!
“Into each life some rain must fall.”--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.”--Jerry Chin
“Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines.”— Satchel Paige had a way with words, love him.
“After the rain cometh the fair weather.”—Aesop. That’s what is wonderful about living in California, LOTS of fair weather!
“That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.”-- Deuteronomy 11:14
The rain may have not been the primary reason I chose this verse. . . perhaps it was the reference to wine?
And then there is this nursery rhyme which I love except that I don’t want the rain to go away.
Five days to Thanksgiving Day. . .giving thanks everyday.
Today I am thankful for this beautiful butterfly I am watching (and photographing) from my sister’s dining room.
Thessalonians 5:18
Our Mom gave each of us, brother Don included, this same Bible for our Lutheran confirmation.
(Special thanks to my sister Micki for use of her home for my photos.)
“Isn't it astonishing that all these secrets have been preserved for so many years just so we could discover them!” Orville Wright
I have been staying with my sister Micki as she goes through Chemo. Yesterday she received a package from our sister-in-law Lee. In it was this beautiful multi-colored colored shawl.
This beautiful sentiment attributed to “Kentucky Mom” was enclosed with the shawl.
We admired the shawl and wondered who had knit such a beauty. We were thinking that she must know someone who knits so beautifully. THEN, in the personal message on the inside of the card we read: “As I knitted I thought of you. . .” Wait a minute! Did she say “I knitted?” Lee can knit? Did she just learn this art?
Micki gets on the phone and calls Lee to thank her (and to find out about this knitting thing.) Lee says yes indeed, she not only knits but learned many years ago! We have not only known Lee since she married our brother Don over 40 years ago, but Gary and I full-time RVed with them for more than ten years. Yes, we even hit dozens of craft and fabric stores as we traveled together all over the country for ten years and I didn’t know this little tidbit about her.
How well do we really know the people we care about? And, no matter how well we think we know our friends and acquaintances, how much do we really know about them? Sal performs in a band? I didn’t know that! Harold is Finnish! Gary and his parents were extras in a movie! We watch celebrities in the media and like to think we know them. Of course we don’t.
Who knew?
Yesterday while I was buying “Trick or Treats” to mail to Stanley, Mary and Will in Fresno I noticed several aisles displaying hundreds of Halloween costumes. And they weren’t cheap! I can only imagine what families with several children must be spending on costumes.
Gosh, I must be getting old! Where are the days when people and kids actually created their costumes? When my three were growing up I kept a big box full of all kinds of piece-parts for costumes. After Russ, Gary and Kelle decided what they wanted to “BE” they would dump the box out onto the family room floor and chose from the many items to create their costume. If need be, we would head out to the fabric store to purchase additional items to finish out their costumes. After Halloween these new fixings would be added to the box.
A few years later, when he was about two, I made grandson Jorden into a bright yellow M&M. Wish I had the pictures with me to show you; I’m not at home this week and have only the photos on my laptop and flash drive to chose from.
Seemed that they got almost as much pleasure in creating their costume as they did in the actual Trick or Treating event. Yes, of course, they did LOVE getting all that candy!
That’s me on far right, Gary is second from left sometime in the 70’s. Our costumes were also created from the “Halloween box.”
Kelle and her brother (Was it Russ or Gary? I can’t tell!)
Gary and I. My “wig” was a floor mop dyed red. Yes, Gary is in dyed red long-johns!
Grandson Jorden- “The Nerd”
When the kids were all costumed and ready to go out trick or treating they grabbed a grocery bag or pillow case for their stash. This morning on the Today Show a guest stated: “It’s over with the paper bags” and displayed various fancy trick or treat containers which seem to be the current must have.
Yeah! At least some people are still doing hand-made costumes. Bobbie Thomas of the Today Show has some ideas: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44991707/ns/today-style/. Loved the Smurfs and Holy Cow and Deviled Egg!
I also found this site with some cute ideas: http://costumeideazone.com/ Bearded Circus Lady and Cute as a Button seem easy and fun.
OK, so creativity is not entirely dead, just lying low.
I do love how Jack O Lantern carving has taken a creative turn. Now, in addition to the traditional “mouth with teeth, triangle nose and eyes:”
creativity has taken jack 0 lanterns to whole new level:
Happy Halloween!
BOO!
Or rather, a lack of thoughts on a Friday afternoon!
I was browsing through the “Famous Quotes” app on my IPhone today and saw this quote by William Makepeace Thackeray:
“There are a thousand thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up a pen to write.”
Well, taking up the pen; or, in this case, placing fingers on my laptop keyboard hasn’t brought my thousand thoughts to mind lately!
Maybe it is let-down writer’s block caused by thirteen months on the road! I’m sure I will recover.
Happy Friday everyone!
This is a recent E mail from daughter-in-law Denise. In addition to the small slice of life in this re-cap she is a Special Ed Teacher and our son, Russ, is busy with his job. Oh yes, there are also two active Jack Russell terriers in the mix!
From left, Stanley, athlete extraordinaire, Mary, cheerleader and all around girly-girl, Will, just a character!
Friday: 2:30: Stanley is starting QB for Eaton Eagles Flag Football team. They played the #1 school (the GATE school) Our Eagles scored 4 touchdowns in their proud defeat. Stanley had his first bloody, busted lip. his friends ran up to me......Stanley lost a tooth! Thank goodness that wasn't true.
Friday: 3:30: Mom sold snow cones at Powers-Ginsburg Carnival and purchased home made tamales for Dad.
Friday: 7:00: Mary cheered at High School game for Hoover Patriots. The girls even danced on the field at half-time. Awesome job Lil' Pates!
Friday: 10:00: Dad to bed, Mom with feet up and kids playing (are you kidding me?)
Saturday:7:30 : Stanley and Mom to soccer game/ Stan played goalie. Mom held her breathe for two straight 20 min. periods. We lost by one. Our boy did a good job.
Saturday: 8:00: William, Mary, Kylee and Dad head to Wills soccer game. Tie. But they got donuts on the way....so we will call it a win.
Saturday: 11:00: Mary and Mom to Allison's shower. Very nice luncheon, Grandma Lisa made cakes and cookies with Aubree's name in icing. Cute cupcakes she made into rattles uses plastic shovel handles. Creative points there. Good turnout and lots of cute goodies for baby. (Grandma Mary would love all the Oakland A's attire) Mary almost won a game. She did make out with all the balloons.
Saturday: 4:00: Thomas family loads up and heads to Sanger. Mary and her crew, cheer their hearts out for the often defeated Lil Pates. We listen to Fresno State Bulldog game on radio driving home.
Saturday: 8:00: Pizza
Saturday: 9:00: Bed
Sunday: 1:00: Stanley's "bad news bears" baseball team only loses by one run to his old coach's team. A moral victory.
Sunday: 3:00: Mom's birthday dinner out..........yummy! Chicken coconut soup, favorite food on the planet!
Sunday: 5:00: Dad and Stanley jump fence at school and play tennis while Mary and Wills flag down Ice cream truck. Mom watches.....smiling
Sunday: 7:00: Mom writes birthday Thank you notes.
Sunday: 9:30: Everyone full of popcorn and showered. Resting at last. Mom hits computer!
Our lives our full of blessings. Even if we are a bit stressed and fatigued at times.
Oh how I remember the days of baseball, scouts, gymnastics, football, 4-H, cheerleading, band, church, that Gary and I were involved in with our three and, as she states at the end, we were also fatigued and stressed much of the time. Brings back wonderful memories and also makes me tired! Thank goodness I am now the Grammie who can relax and enjoy.
Our three in the 1970’s, these California kids didn’t see snow up close very often: Russ, now Dad to the above, Kelle “Mom” to two cats, and Gary, Dad to Jorden.
A year ago last week we left the Monterey Peninsula in California for points east, south and who knows where else following the hood of the truck would take us. And we did go to points in the south and east, in fact, all the way to the eastern-most point in the U.S.
About August, while we were in Maine I started missing “home.” But wait a minute, I’m a full time RVer who loves the lifestyle of living and traveling in a fifth wheel RV! For seventeen years home has been where we are for however long we are there, so why for the first time was I feeling this way?
Almost all full time RVers have a “home base”, the place where they return to periodically. For many it is where they lived in a traditional home prior to going on the road. This is often where their primary care physicians, dentists, accountants etc are located. This was the case for us although Gary had elbow surgery and I had dental work done in Louisiana. My brother Don and sister-in-law Lee kept Bellingham, Washington as their home base the 10+ years they full time RVed. Others adopt a home base along the road. Our full timing friends Duane and MaryJane adopted South Carolina as their home base and then settled there when they were done full timing.
Ah ha, so what I am missing is not my home but our home base! The familiar places we love to eat, our family and friends, the roar of the race cars and motorcycles at Laguna Seca Raceway, beautiful Monterey Bay, “my” Safeway market and even the summertime brown hills of the Golden State.
While home is where the heart is, it is also true that home is where the familiar is. Of course this doesn’t mean we are anywhere near settling into a home that doesn’t move. . .not by a long stretch!
