No subterfuge, games nor *gasp* Santa hat; it was a straightforward, classic Shindy dance this year.
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
The Perfect Meal
The weather forced us to slightly alter our plans this Thanksgiving day. Freezing rain and sleet made us begrudgingly punt on running in our first Turkey Trot this morning.
We knew the weather might have an impact even last evening as we shopped for a few groceries. No, we didn't stock up on bread and milk but bought a single TastyKake Pumpkin Pie to split today with what ever meal we pulled together.
We didn't have the scent of hot turkey fat to wake up to like I can remember 40 years ago. As Jim decorated our indoor Norfolk Island Pines, thus dubbing them our our Yule Trees for the year, I threw together a lunch of left overs.
Left over Tofurky sandwich slices on some seeded rye with a healthy pile of mixed greens, a few wedges of tomato, a dollop of spiced butternut squash, perfect avocado slices and the condiments of Vegenaise® and a cranberry apple chutney made the most perfect Thanksgiving meal.
No, I fibbed. What made it perfect was the company. We weren't surrounded by every member of our loving family but Jim and I had each other. We munched a Dagwood sized sandwich and smiled as we did the best we could to make the holiday feel festive. I am thankful for Jim's heart that lifts me on the gray and gloomy days. Redefining each stage of life is a challenge but with him I am up to it.
This is a similar sandwich, the real one disappeared before I got it photographed.
We knew the weather might have an impact even last evening as we shopped for a few groceries. No, we didn't stock up on bread and milk but bought a single TastyKake Pumpkin Pie to split today with what ever meal we pulled together.
We didn't have the scent of hot turkey fat to wake up to like I can remember 40 years ago. As Jim decorated our indoor Norfolk Island Pines, thus dubbing them our our Yule Trees for the year, I threw together a lunch of left overs.
Left over Tofurky sandwich slices on some seeded rye with a healthy pile of mixed greens, a few wedges of tomato, a dollop of spiced butternut squash, perfect avocado slices and the condiments of Vegenaise® and a cranberry apple chutney made the most perfect Thanksgiving meal.
No, I fibbed. What made it perfect was the company. We weren't surrounded by every member of our loving family but Jim and I had each other. We munched a Dagwood sized sandwich and smiled as we did the best we could to make the holiday feel festive. I am thankful for Jim's heart that lifts me on the gray and gloomy days. Redefining each stage of life is a challenge but with him I am up to it.
This is a similar sandwich, the real one disappeared before I got it photographed.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Labor Day with the Crayola Posse
I was moving pretty slowly after my long run on Sunday. Getting together with the folks to find a new mystery letter box was just the right idea for my Labor Day. We could put our thinking caps on, explore some ideas in the field and see what we could turn up as we visited and enjoying a sunny drive south.We started in Mifflin County to check out how Toolman Luke was doing with the 1967 Corvair he has been polishing up since... well it feels like 1968 but I know it was really more like 1978. It is really coming together! Look for him and Maga11 at the Car Show in Carlisle at the end of the month!
Maga treated us to some beautiful muscadine and scupadine grapes to fortify us until we found a place that was open for lunch. Holiday weekend are more difficult but we wanted to leave our dining options open to what ever Juniata County through our way.We drove south but no eagles were seen on our trip along the Juniata this time. We loved seeing our ancestor's grave stones in Thompsontown, Center and obscure places not mentioned on maps but know as locals as Texas Hollow and Up the Pinnacle and Muskrat Springs.
We stopped in Mexico for a break at the Mexico Market. Their hand dipped ice cream can't be beat. The "small" is a huge cone of multiple quality dips and the price is an amazing $1.00. Toolman Luke started off with a cone of raspberry and we had some sandwiches before our dessert.
We drove a short way to a Juniata River access near Buttonwood Campground. One of our old mystery letterbox was at this location but we removed it because it was totally water logged, a hole got ripped in the logbook baggy. It is so much fun to see the names who had puzzled out where it was since the logbook had been replaced in 2006. Last finders were exactly a year ago.
We enjoyed seeing white herons fly low on the river and look at the map with a lot of the Juniata access points, State Game Lands areas and camping areas. I saw the section of Lower Trail I had run the day before. I showed the folks where I ran from Alexandria/Water Street access past the Mt Etna access and back. A lovely 1/2 marathon along the dear Juniata.
Time for dessert, we went back to Mexico Market and were greeted by a bunch of chickens in the parking lot. They wandered around looking right at home. I found them to be a little intimidating.
We each chose a different flavor of ice cream. I got Cherry Vanilla, RGBisMe got Vanilla, Maga got Butter Pecan and Toolman got
Chocolate this time. It was warm enough that driving anywhere with our melting treats would not be a good idea so we found some nearby picnic tables. It happened to be where the chickens had settled and they got all excited as we walked toward them.
RGBisMe got it into his head that the one chicken was asking for a lick off of his cone and bent down to offer it some. That chicken took such an agressive bite of icecream that his thumb cracked right through the cone with the force he had to use o hang onto it. Crazy man, crazy chickens.
We did have success with the letterbox. Toolman's knowledge of the surrounding area aced us a first find on a cute local letterbox. All of the pleasant conversation, mellow activity and good times allowed me to feel good enough this morning to take on a 4 mile recovery run. Thanks for the great Labor Day, Crayola Posse!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Twisted Traditions
Having Ravenboy home for a week was very special. He finally got to meet Miles and helped us decorate for the upcoming holidays. 
We have many family traditions, most of them silly and origins so obscure that they are hard to explain. One is playing cassette tapes of old Christmas LPs while we decorate our home for the upcoming Yule Tide. Many readers can probably relate to that tradition and having been raised as Christians, RGBisMe and I have plenty of great childhood memories of the tunes. Ravenboy, however, was raised in an eclectic neopagan home and will raise a questioning eyebrow at some of the traditional lyrics.
Over 2 decades ago, one lively holiday medley became the victim of an oddly choreographed dance. I don't know what possessed me to start doing this high stepping jig that looks more like a fit than anything graceful. It is so aerobic that I swear that no matter how many times that I hear it in a season, I will only perform it once. As the years passed, I added the rule that it would be only the first time I heard it during the holiday season. My annual performance is usually in the privacy of our living room but fate has also required me to perform at Toolman Luke & Maga11's. Then there was a year that I heard the strains of the medley very early in the season in a department store! Not wishing to break the tradition nor experience public humiliation, I quickly exited even though I was alone.
I think the next twist in the tradition was influenced by the recent ease of recording the event. Disposable cameras at the ready, my family would anticipate the event with glee. Digital cameras and eventually the ease of digital movies with sound made each year a little more um... humorous. I resorted to trying to put off the performance for as long as possible. One year, I hid the tapes to delay the inevitable. The next year, I hid just the tape with the energetic music. Next time I switched the labels on the tapes. Their one weakness is they forgot which tape it is every year. It always amazes me because I certainly remember. Each year the tapes are hunted out and all the songs played through until the right tape has sent me into my annual cardiac workout.
Last year, I went to great lengths. I secretly duped the tape then copied a song (I could only find on VHS)that Ravenboy hates over the original tune. Mouths gaped as they thought the song was lost forever. I pulled out the duped tape and began my performance with a grin, knowing I had "got" them.
I had no great ideas this year, no grand schemes. I was at a loss as to how to put off jumping around my living room until my chest wanted to explode. We had limited time to decorate and celebrate, RGBisMe was taking the afternoon off with that in mind. Just before he came home, Ravenboy jumped into the shower. Finally and idea came to me. I popped the offending cassette into the player and fast forwarded it to just beyond the song I wanted to avoid. The moment the shower ended, I started the tape and gently turned up the music. RGBisMe came in all smiles and our afternoon of family fun started.
When the side of the tape ended, Ravenboy made his move to flip the side and noted what tape it was. After that, both sides had seemingly played completely through. As the afternoon progressed, their annual realization that they had forgotten which tape it was played to my advantage. Ravenboy tried to logically deduce which tape it was on by looking at which labels I had erased one year. He narrowed it down to 2 tapes. I tried not to flinch when he insisted on playing the on tape again. He eyed me carefully and put in the correct tape.
I tried to make a graceful exit to get into my costume (Did I mention there is a costume?) as my family smirked in victory. I did not sprain my ankle this year, I am not in as good shape as I was last year but my heart didn't explode. They smiled down onto my prone sweating form and congratulated me on a year well danced. I love our holiday traditions.
We have many family traditions, most of them silly and origins so obscure that they are hard to explain. One is playing cassette tapes of old Christmas LPs while we decorate our home for the upcoming Yule Tide. Many readers can probably relate to that tradition and having been raised as Christians, RGBisMe and I have plenty of great childhood memories of the tunes. Ravenboy, however, was raised in an eclectic neopagan home and will raise a questioning eyebrow at some of the traditional lyrics.
Over 2 decades ago, one lively holiday medley became the victim of an oddly choreographed dance. I don't know what possessed me to start doing this high stepping jig that looks more like a fit than anything graceful. It is so aerobic that I swear that no matter how many times that I hear it in a season, I will only perform it once. As the years passed, I added the rule that it would be only the first time I heard it during the holiday season. My annual performance is usually in the privacy of our living room but fate has also required me to perform at Toolman Luke & Maga11's. Then there was a year that I heard the strains of the medley very early in the season in a department store! Not wishing to break the tradition nor experience public humiliation, I quickly exited even though I was alone.I think the next twist in the tradition was influenced by the recent ease of recording the event. Disposable cameras at the ready, my family would anticipate the event with glee. Digital cameras and eventually the ease of digital movies with sound made each year a little more um... humorous. I resorted to trying to put off the performance for as long as possible. One year, I hid the tapes to delay the inevitable. The next year, I hid just the tape with the energetic music. Next time I switched the labels on the tapes. Their one weakness is they forgot which tape it is every year. It always amazes me because I certainly remember. Each year the tapes are hunted out and all the songs played through until the right tape has sent me into my annual cardiac workout.
Last year, I went to great lengths. I secretly duped the tape then copied a song (I could only find on VHS)that Ravenboy hates over the original tune. Mouths gaped as they thought the song was lost forever. I pulled out the duped tape and began my performance with a grin, knowing I had "got" them.
I had no great ideas this year, no grand schemes. I was at a loss as to how to put off jumping around my living room until my chest wanted to explode. We had limited time to decorate and celebrate, RGBisMe was taking the afternoon off with that in mind. Just before he came home, Ravenboy jumped into the shower. Finally and idea came to me. I popped the offending cassette into the player and fast forwarded it to just beyond the song I wanted to avoid. The moment the shower ended, I started the tape and gently turned up the music. RGBisMe came in all smiles and our afternoon of family fun started.
When the side of the tape ended, Ravenboy made his move to flip the side and noted what tape it was. After that, both sides had seemingly played completely through. As the afternoon progressed, their annual realization that they had forgotten which tape it was played to my advantage. Ravenboy tried to logically deduce which tape it was on by looking at which labels I had erased one year. He narrowed it down to 2 tapes. I tried not to flinch when he insisted on playing the on tape again. He eyed me carefully and put in the correct tape.
I tried to make a graceful exit to get into my costume (Did I mention there is a costume?) as my family smirked in victory. I did not sprain my ankle this year, I am not in as good shape as I was last year but my heart didn't explode. They smiled down onto my prone sweating form and congratulated me on a year well danced. I love our holiday traditions.
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