Decorating the tree

I started decorating for Christmas today. I usually leave the tree for last but I started with it this year. Decorating the tree is always a melancholy part of the holiday season. I have an assortment of ornaments that I have collected over the years and they bring back a lot of memories. I realized today that I can recognize most of them from their feel through the tissue paper before I unwrap them. They're like old friends I get to see only once a year. I won't get a chance to finish the tree until tomorrow. When that's done I'll post a picture of it here.

Thanksgiving preparations

Everything seems to be coming together for Thanksgiving. I have taken inventory of all the dishes I have traditionally used - those that came from my mother's house and other things I have collected over the years. Seeing these things is a little like getting together with old friends that I see only once a year. They bring back a flood of happy memories. It will be good to host the dinner again. I couldn't do it last year. All the supplies are in stock aside from a few items I'll pick up tomorrow afternoon.

I'll have to study up on how long to cook the turkey again. THe FDA web site says to allow one pound of turkey per person. I'll have eight people and bought a 23 pound turkey so I should be OK on that front. The stuffing will be great and I have a new, easy and tasty home made cranberry sauce recipe. I still don't know what to do with those yams, though. I'm not good at yams.

Monday, Monday

I'm puttering about the house getting ready for the week. I made it through the weekend successfully not getting anything ready for Thanksgiving so I'll be on the case with that for the next few days. We'll have a smaller than usual group this year - only eight of us - so Thanksgiving dinner should be a snap to prepare. I bought a 23 pound turkey anyway. I figure if you're going to spend all the time preparing a turkey it might as well be a big one..

This week promises to be a frantic one at work. We have several people out for the holiday so everyone who is left will be hopping.

I have a doctor appointment this afternoon. Just a general follow up to the year that has gone before. He'll probably just tell me I'm too tubby and out of shape. I'm not looking forward to that but if that's all the bad news I get then I'll take it.

John, Jennie and I went to see our aunt yesterday up in Johnstown. She seemed just a bit weaker and quieter than she had been the last time I was there. While she said very little she did eat all of the crabcake that we had brought to her. I was glad of that. It's often hard to know what to do to brighten a day. Most of the time just showing up is enough, I think.

Heron return

I saw the heron in the river again this morning. That was reassuring in a way. It had been a long time since I'd seen her and I thought by now she might have left for the winter. Of course, I can't tell if it's a male or a female or if it is even the same heron from one time to another. Still, the herons have been a constant for me over the last year or so and have taken on a significance for me. It was good to see that she is still there.

Flowers by surprise

I got flowers today. They came from my sister and brother-in-law to help me celebrate my big one year mark. They're very beautiful with roses, alstromeria, snapdragons, carnations, lilies and stock. There's also some other flower that I don't recognize. The stock and lilies are very fragrant which is great. Here's a photo...




It's hard to get good lighting on them in my office so imagine them even more beautiful than this picture suggests. Despite all the challenges and problems that the workday presented, this has been a very good day.

Happy news

I have two friends who had been going through some difficult times - one with employment problems and one with a big health scare. Today they both called me to report that all is well. The job issue has been solved and the health scare turned out to be a false call. What happy news. Both of these things had been going on for some time and that sort of looming disaster can be so debilitating. It's good to know that those burdens have been lifted.

In other news, my fancy phone/organizer acted up today and may be dying. I don't quite know what to do ith it. Compared to other issues this is not a major problem. Maybe this is some sort of cosmic trade-off where I have to pay with an annoyance to get some good news. If so, then I definitely got the better end of the deal.

One year

Today is my one year surgery anniversary. It has been a hard year with recovery from the lung surgery, the other much less dramatic hernia surgery, some serious challenges at work, and most of all the crushing loss of my friend Barry. This has all left a profound mark on me. Thinking back, what strikes me is that it was a year of love. I am still overwhelmed by the kindnesses that were showered on me. I have such a wonderful family and the best possible friends. I am also very grateful for the time that I spent with Barry and Rick and am glad to have a job that let me go when I needed to go.

I will hold this year in my mind and heart. I will continue let what I have learned guide my choices and actions. It was a year that let me see clearly what is most important in life. It is my job to show that the lesson has been learned.

Election day

I was up early this morning to get some things done before heading out to the polls. This is an election that I didn't want to miss. I got there at 6:30 (the polls opened at 7:00) and there was already a line. It was worth it. It was easily the most important thing I'll be doing today.

As this election has been approaching I keep thinking of lines from the old hymn, "How Can I Keep from Singing." Among others, Enya recorded it on her Shepherd Moons album. The lines that keeps coming back to me are,

When tyrants tremble in their fear
And hear their death knell ringing,
When friends rejoice both far and near
How can I keep from singing?

I'm certainly not wishing death knells on anyone, but I would welcome a new direction and a chance to rejoice with friends - both far and near.

Morning walks

I've begun morning walks again. I had fallen off of that after the big 5K trip in September. I went again this morning for the first time since then and did what is now my usual three mile route. Some of the enthusiasm came from my biological clock not having caught up with the time change. Despite one-hour time shift I started and finished the walk in the dark.

It was an interesting morning. It is deer romance season and there were deer everywhere. They don't seem to mind if you don't come up on them too closely. I try to make sufficient noise walking so that I don't take them by surprise. I don't want to be one of those people who is featured in the news as a victim of a freak deer attack. Most of the deer I saw were small. They must be this spring's youngsters.

I also saw a fox and a little rabbit. Luckily for the rabbit I didn't see them both at the same time. There were also lots of things skittering about in the woods along the road. Now that the dry leaves are coming down it's hard for anything to move quietly through the trees.

This year's pumpkins

Halloween has come and gone. My neighbors threw a community party. I made a lot of food and was able to support the decorations with all the assorted Halloween stuff I've collected over the years. I also did some pumpkins again this year. Here's a picture of the 2008 crop.

One of these years I'm going to invest in some of those artificial pumpkins that you can carve since I cut similar faces into them each year. Still, there's something about the real thing that would be hard to re-create.