Thanksgiving + Hanukkah

Long time, no writing here.  I apologize to anyone still checking in from time to time.  After my trip to Connecticut, I was busy with work and getting ready to go to Atlanta for a visit.  Then came the Atlanta trip, and I came back bringing a bad cold.  Ten days of recovering from the cold - working while doing so - and I had no energy for much of anything not connected to eating, sleeping or working.

The visit to Atlanta - apart from catching the cold (for which I blame the flights on the virus-incubating flying metal cylinders) - was very lovely.  My daughter, Corinne, my grandson, Cachao, my brother, John, and I all went with my son, Sam, to the showing of the film Sam edited (Knock Around Kids) at the Atlanta-based BronzeLens Film Festival.  A very appreciative if not huge crowd enjoyed the film, and Sam answered questions from the audience at the end.

I also got to go with my daughter-in-law, Cachao and his little brother, Cello, to see Cachao play his last soccer game of the season.  His team "lost" - although no one seemed particularly stressed by that fact.  Each kid on both teams received a trophy with his/her name on it.

I had a lovely breakfast with both my kids and both my grand kids, and then we sat in my sister-in-law's front yard (my daughter is living in one of the 2 duplex's apartments), watched the kids play, listened to Corinne's chickens clucking, and did that old southern thing, "visited."  It was lovely.  I also got to enjoy a lot of reading with Cachao - me reading to him, him reading to me, books by others, books that Cach has written (he's written several entire series!).

A few photos from the trip:

           













Now it is erev (the eve of) of the conjoined falling of the first day of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving, a highly unusual event that has caused more national media attention to Hanukkah than I recall in my lifetime, even in "Jewish" New York.  I'll light candles tonight, and tomorrow David and I are making Thanksgiving dinner here for David's niece, Sara, and her husband, Ed, and son, Christopher.  We have a very large 16 pound turkey to cook (smallest kosher turkey they had locally).  Sunday we volunteer at the local soup kitchen and it will be December.

We already had a dusting of snow yesterday morning, already melted away in today's rain.

Ready to cook turkey, ready to give thanks for family, friends, food and life generally.

Peace.