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I don't always drink Angel’s Envy, but when I do, it’s because some awesome friends are awesome. |
For Ms. B. and me, the Thanksgiving weekend kicked off on Wednesday afternoon,
as work let out at lunchtime. This worked out great for us because we had
company — friends Stephen Provost & Samaire Wynne — coming over for
drinks and dinner early in the evening. We ended up having a lovely visit,
with Marco’s Pizza and some excellent Italian wine on the menu. To top things off, they
brought over a bottle of Angel’s Envy bourbon, which turned out to be
delightful. A fine spirit, it is, with silky undertones and a long finish
that gets mellower and mellower. I loved it. And a thousand thanks to Stephen
& Samaire. Awesome friends indeed!
On Thursday — Thanksgiving Day — morning, Brugger and I rose pretty early and
headed out to Browns Summit, the headquarters of friends Tom
(a.k.a. Skyhawk63) & Linda (a.k.a.
Punkins19) for a geocaching breakfast event. Tom served homemade
biscuits with lots of fixings, not to mention coffee aplenty. A
decent-size crowd showed up, and that really got the day off to a perfect start.
From there, Ms. B. and I headed back home and started prepping the feast. I
had gotten us a big ol’ turkey breast, which I seasoned and got cooking
straightaway. We smashed some potatoes, cooked up some gravy, Brugger made a
batch of savory mushroom & gruyere tarts, and we topped that off with
large green salads. I was a little afeared I might have overcooked the dead
bird when I checked the meat thermometer, but no... it was delicious and done
just right — as was everything. As far as Thanksgiving Day dinners go, this
one could hardly have been better (although, at the end of it, I was too full
to partake of the cheesecake we had for afters; I’ll enjoy that later).
I had decided a while back, with Ms. B.’s blessing, that I would spend
Thanksgiving night as well as some extra time at Pleasant Hill, the old
homestead. So, after dinner settled a bit, I hit the road and headed first to
Oak Ridge, just northwest of Greensboro, to snag a newish geocache. Upon
giving the map a look, I noticed there was another cache over in Walnut Cove,
a few miles farther northwest. So, I decided to go check that one out as well.
I was pleased to see it was located at a graveyard, since graveyard caches are
typically among my favorite. It turned out to be a fun cache indeed. That
little side trip done, I continued on to Martinsville.
Many of my readers no doubt know that, against every conceivable expectation,
I am the last of the family I grew up with. I lost my dad to complications
from diabetes two decades ago. Last year, I lost my mom to COVID-19. Earlier
this year, my younger brother passed away of leukemia. Now and again, these
losses still overwhelm me. While my family was alive, Christmas was a
momentous holiday. Mom always loved having a Christmas tree, and she collected
a prodigious number of ornaments over her lifetime, most having some special
significance. For those several years that she was debilitated with dementia,
I kept that tree going up every Christmas. And now that she is gone... that
they’re all gone... I treasure putting up the tree. So, on this night,
at the house where I grew up... the place my mom loved most... I put up the
tree and decorated it. An emotionally tough yet heartwarming
undertaking. I did this to honor my family that was. I imagine I will do
this for as long as I physically can.
Kimberly and I will spend our holidays celebrating the family that is. My
daughter, Allison, is remote, but close in heart, I know. So this is how I’m
starting my Christmas season. It does hurt, but there is also a wonderful
refuge in so many memories of perfect times — particularly during
the holiday season — with my old family.
That done — and you can roll your eyes all you want to — for some reason, I
felt drawn to put on the 1965 Rodgers & Hammerstein production of Cinderella, starring Lesley Ann Warren and Stuart Damon. I hadn’t
seen it, or even really thought about it, since I was a kid. Something about
last night’s onslaught of childhood memories, I suppose. Anyway, I went ahead
and watched it on
YouTube. Was it any good? Well, I dunno; it was pretty much Cinderella as we all
know the story. Since I still have something of a soft spot for old musicals,
I found a couple of the songs pretty good. A handful of lines made me crack a
smile. So I guess you could say I enjoyed it. I am certain it is not going
into the regular holiday video rotation.
This morning, I found breakfast at
The Ground Floor, a relatively new coffee shop uptown, and then headed out on a geocache
maintenance run, first to Philpott Dam, then to a couple around
Martinsville. The hiking did me a world of good. On the way back, I grabbed a
nice lunch at
Hugo’s, also uptown. And this afternoon, now I’ve gotten this blog composed, I have
a bunch of writing to do for upcoming projects. And thus I shall.
I’ll be back.
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| Philpott Dam |
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