I have to say – the kitchen was a scene of utter chaos. And I absolutely loved it. People moving around, jostling, yelling for space and help. A bustle of activity and collisions and it was just so glorious to witness.
You may gauge the holidays on the meals that are served. But for me, the pleasure and measure of it is in the preparation. A house is full of love when its kitchen is full with motion.
Didn’t end up taking any photos today. A fairly uneventful kind of day, all in all. Liz and I continued to work remotely. By mid-afternoon, I left to run some last minute errands (day before Thanksgiving, trying to hit stores before they close). Liz has been super busy with work, and basically worked a full day.
In the late afternoon, Liz called me over to the window. But did so in an urgent, hushed voice. Just outside, there was a small group of deer grazing on the yard.
Two nights ago, Liz and I heard a deep sound late at night. We were both somewhat surprised – it sounded like someone slamming a door in the distance, but muffled. We didn’t make much of it, as it happened once or twice after midnight.
I stood in the hallway for a while, trying to listen for the sound to repeat. But after 10 or so minutes, went back to bed after not hearing anything.
With a bit of dinner, a fireplace going in the background, and Sherlock on the TV. This isn’t the best photo, but captures for me the moment. Relaxing on the couch, warm and full, watching a favorite show on television. A lovely evening.
It’s the weekend! And while Liz has a ton of work work to still do, we headed out to take advantage of the Saturday. Because a weekend day means we can put in time for a long run (without having to wake up crazy early).
“Each week I bought a new bottle
of vinegar—which is delicious
slopped on hot white bread. Who
with a tongue hasn’t loved
some sweet slow rot.”
We decided to stop at Plein Air Cafe for breakfast, and found that a lot of the nearby parking spots were all taken up. We normally come here on the weekends, when there are fewer students around. But today, the streets were all jam packed. We ended up needing to park several blocks away.
“Your fear of the leading light
if they are with you and your heart won’t fail
To see through a fearless eye
and know that danger finally goes away”
The kid that kept ranking things with decimal points was my favorite. It’s like you can just see him wearing a lab coat, and can imagine him discovering the cure to some major disease in the not so distant future.
“We mourn the broken things, chair legs
wrenched from their seats, chipped plates,
the threadbare clothes.”
Headed back to Chicago today. As I was packing up the car, I looked up to see Kaya in the doorway. There was this somewhat somber expression on Kaya’s face, kind of a “You’re leaving? Already?” kind of thing.
Our family gathered in Indianapolis this weekend, to pay our respects and say farewell to my Auntie Dawn. I have some photos from the day, mostly from the reception that followed at my sister’s home. Planning to return to this post at some point in the future, to share those images.
Shane got a hold of all the various 8MM films that my parents had stored/kept, and brought them up (at my request). I probably shouldn’t have started to look into this, given how late it was (after midnight).
If you can come up with a workaround… you’ve solved half the problem.