First: Happy Thanksgiving! However you are celebrating it.
For me, time continues to accelerate. Each day feels like it's about 15 minutes long, which is why I don't post very often; no time. I'm packing alot into each day, so you'd think I'd have lots to say and I do but before I have time to sit and write anything down, it's gone and several other things have occupied my mind before zipping down the memory hole. I could hardly believe it was already Halloween a couple of minutes ago and now here it is: Turkey Day!
In the past, Thanksgiving went like this: Jay's team usually played in an away tournament so he would get back into town in the wee hours of Thanksgiving morning. Before coming to bed, he'd prep the turkey and pop it in the oven so that we'd awaken to a house filled with the delicious aroma of roast turkey. Thanksgiving would be off to a terrific start! Long before noon, he'd have the bird cooked, the carcass stripped, the meat packed in the fridge and the remains ready to be soupified. While this was happening, my brother Joe and his kids would be playing their annual football game. Tyler would frequently make the drive over to join in. Early in the afternoon, we'd head to Jay's brother Steve's house were dozens of Pivecs would gather for a huge turkey/ham dinner with all the trimmings. I usually was asked to bring cranberry sauce and ginger snaps. As the pie was being served around 5, we'd pack up, take our leave and head to my brother Andy's house, where dozens of Hubbells would be gathered, ready to stuff themselves silly with (our second)dinner. Every year, we'd swear that this time we weren't going to go overboard and eat too much and every single year we'd eat two entire dinners. THANKSGIVING!!
Some years the weather would be warm enough to take a walk or bike ride. I remember when my folks still lived over on Queen, a Thanksgiving morning that was so balmy Jay, the kids and I all rode our bikes to Mom's house in the morning to help set the table. Josie was a toddler, riding in a seat on the back of my bike. The moment we turned onto the lake bike path, a bird pooped on my head. My kids thought that was the funniest thing they'd ever seen.
Some years it would be snowy. In 2010, we had a blizzard dump 20" of snow on the city the week before Thanksgiving. Our snowblower chose that morning to die so the kids that still lived at home helped shovel the driveway out so that Jay could take the van to the hardware store and buy a new one. The streets weren't yet plowed so that trek was fraught with peril and uncertainty. We all survived.
Now, for the second year in a row, we're having a strange, truncated sort of holiday. My brother Andy is still having as much of the family over as feels comfortable doing so. Thanks to my Mom's brilliant move of infecting us all with the virus back in March of '20, most of us have been over the pandemic since before it began but some of us have very real health concerns (auto-immune disease, respiratory disease, cancer) so large gatherings are and may always be a concern. As for the rest of us; party on, Wayne.
I knew that some of our holiday traditions were not going to survive the growing up of the kids. For instance, the Christmas Eve sleep over at Ty's house couldn't possibly go on forever. It lasted 5 years, which is pretty good. There's no large all-Pivec get together again this year, so Ty invited us all to his place. Katie and Josie, who have in-law obligations (no, Josie and Nick haven't gotten married but still) and didn't want to add an hour in the car to their schedules. They'll be staying in town and making an appearance at Andy's. Zach and Sara are planning on coming to Ty's, then dropping in on Andy's place later. I will probably do the same.
I won't be surprised if the Great Pivec Get Together is over for good. The truth is, we had begun to realize that the clan was getting too large for indoor parties a few years ago. What with Pat and Frank's fourth generation of descendants, very few of us have places large enough to host everyone. Outside, a few of us do. Inside, it's a problem. Covid just made the decision for us.
Just because we don't eat Thanksgiving turkey at home is no reason not to roast one for ourselves. This year, I thought I'd get a nice 10lb bird for Jay and I. Aldi had them for .89c a lb. Unfortunately, they didn't have any under 17lb. So we have an enormous bird in the oven as I type.
One part of tradition that returned this year is that Jay left town on basketball related business early in the week. He returned in time to put the bird in the oven but not early enough to wake up to the aroma of roast turkey. Maybe next year, his timing will improve.
While he was gone, the weather was actually quite nice; up in the 50s! Lake Harriet is beginning to freeze around the shoreline but only on the south side, where the hill keeps any sunshine from hitting the water, now that the sun is so low in the sky. I walked around the lake the other day at 4:00 and the sun was down before I finished. The days are very short this time of year; no wonder I feel like they're only 15 minutes long.
Work is still booming for me. Orders are piled up and Ginny's idea of a Pink Christmas has been a big hit. The new designs have been lots of fun.
I've also been working on the ornaments I stitched for my own family, which I'm giving them for Christmas. I started back in May, thinking I didn't want to be slammed for time. Most of them are stitched but suddenly I realized "Christmas is a month away: I've got to finish these!" So, I've been putting them together. I've gotten pretty good at the round ones. Anything with a shape to it, I brought into the shop for the professional finisher to do.
I've also had another breakthrough in my oil painting. I noticed this summer that I'm using more paint and broadening my value range. We've moved indoors again and are now doing still life setups. Like magic, my brushwork is much better. I feel like the paint is responding to my will in a way that it never has before. Someone once asked Sargeant how to make a good painting and he said "first, paint a hundred of them..." It's been five years since I started. There's no substitute for experience.
Have a lovely holiday and be especially grateful if you can spend it with the people you love. I am.