Month: November 2012

Our Jacobson-Borenstine-Becker family Thanksgiving week in Florida went very smoothly, and we all acknowledged – one way or another – that we had a lot to be thankful for! This is the third year we have celebrated this holiday together, four generations of my family in a rental house big enough for us to spread out in, and spend a few winter days in the sun and relatively warm air on the beach. By the time we left, we all had agreed – we want to do it again in 2013.
Although the kitchen arrangement in our rental house was better suited to cooking for 14 people, we didn’t do my traditional thing, which was to make it ALL about food. As last year, we got smoked turkeys from Nancy’s Barbeque, so our Thanksgiving day preparations were all about filling in the sides. It was more important to me this year to spend time relaxing and schmoozing with my family. Our eldest generation included my mother, Elinor; her sister, Gloria; and our cousin Ann. In addition to Robert and me, we had my sisters, Paula and Elisa, and Paula’s husband, Ted, as well as Robert’s sister Judy. Next came our daughters, Allison and Loren, and daughter-in-law, Stephanie. For the most part the highlights were our grandchildren, Ana and Gabriel.
I think each of us “had our moments,” so to speak, but from my perspective we got along better – and perhaps that’s because there wasn’t so much pressure in the kitchen. As the photos below show, we spent a great deal of time relaxing, doing puzzles and reading, and walking on Venice Beach and in the neighborhood.
I spent as much time as I could walking with Gabriel. Here we are looking at shells, typically used in Florida for driveways and walkways. Gabriel was fascinated by them – he is accustomed to picking up rocks when we walk together in Asheville or D.C., but in Florida he has other choices.

The beach is his favorite place! On this trip we collected as much flotsam and jetsam as Gabriel could get me to carry. Our take included a coconut shell, some dried out coral and seaweed, a shell or two, and the stick you see in the photo below. (Yes, that is a stick by his hands, not a snake!)

Most of us spent some time working on jigsaw puzzles. Robert stayed clear of our puzzle table. Ted “helped” by asking us repeatedly if we had finished that puzzle yet…
In the next two photos you’ll see Loren working with my sister Paula and Robert’s sister Judy:

Most of our needlework was crocheting. (Paula did a bit of quilting.) Here you see Mom (right) helping Ann figure out a pattern.

Other favorite activities were reading and … resting, as these photos of Robert and Ted show.

On Saturday Allison, Stephanie, and Loren took Gabriel and Ana to Jungle gardens. I think the flamingoes were their favorite attraction there.

Allison spent a lot of time studying, but here she is listening to something that was on Gabriel’s mind. There is ALWAYS something on Gabriel’s mind …

For the most part, our travel went smoothly. I think for all but Allison it was a pretty relaxing vacation. Although we were not obsessed with cooking, we ate very well, and the rental did well for our “Thanksgiving house.” Pretty good, for this crew – pretty good!

Like lots of other things, Thanksgiving is different for me this year. I’m much more easygoing, and I can’t imagine letting anything take that away. This, I say, despite the fact that big family get-togethers are always fraught with possibilities for misunderstandings, hurt feelings, unintended slights – the whole schmear. But I’ve had so much else on my mind these last few months that I haven’t had a chance to get hyped up about the upcoming holiday. In the long run, that’s probably going to make it more enjoyable.
I heard a piece on NPR this morning by someone who was anticipating a big, messy family get-together this week. He talked about the family members and close friends who invariably come together at holiday time and hurt each other’s feelings, even though that was the farthest thing from their minds. Speaking to his own TG guests, he asked them to be considerate of each other – noting that as we age we sometimes find our skin getting thinner.
What one thinks is funny, he said, might be hurtful to another – and the speaker had reason to anticipate that hurt but just didn’t think about it. Of the offended ones, he asked that they just excuse themselves from the gathering for a few minutes and try to come back when they can do so without the offense or hurt, which nine times out of ten is unintended. He asked everyone to think, “Can’t we all just get along?” and also to say it if they think it would help in the moment.
He went on to talk about some of the personalities that come to his family’s gathering – the one who’s remained single well into middle age, the one who’s out of work and wondering what’s next, the one whose spouse doesn’t want to come to family gatherings, the inveterate comic who tells the same old jokes that continue to make people groan … or that single out a small group and make them want to crawl under the table, the one who remembers a loved one not with us this year and is having trouble getting through this day. Some of it sounded familiar … some not.
It’s a tall order, I know. But I hope everyone can “just get along.” I’ll try to think about this, too, as we get ready for a week of togetherness that just may be too long for some and not long enough for others.
Happy turkey, everyone! And whether you eat turkey or not, gobble gobble!

I decided to take a turn from my friend John’s playbook and post a photoblog today so I would have a great excuse to take Chewey out for a mid-day walk. I knew from my morning ride to the gym that the colors are still brilliant!

I found this red maple on Harrison Street, right near where I parked on my way to yoga.

Yes, it’s November 14, and the colors are as wonderful as I have ever seen them anywhere. That’s not easy for me to say because I grew up going to the Ozarks for fall foliage and then lived in New England for nine years. Now I live not far from the Shenandoah Valley and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
One rivals the other for autumn beauty. But never do I remember a D.C. fall as wonderful as this, and particularly not this late in the year. Just look at this red oak, up the block on Morrison St. I’ve never seen this color on an oak anywhere besides the Ozarks. 

At Mark and Jane’s house is this red maple – rivaling the one on Harrison.

I don’t claim to be an extraordinary photographer – and in this case my lack of skill worked in my favor. What I was after was the colors, not sharp focus. Got what I was looking for!
Not all the reds were so flashy. This crimson cherry shows the variety we have.

And speaking of cherries – these beauts, along the field behind Lafayette Elementary School, give us spectacular springs every year. This year they have given us these gorgeous yellows.

Study in red and blue, provided by this sugar maple – as wonderful as any New England has to offer:

Study in orange and green:

Yellow for variety – perhaps this is a horsechestnut?

A melange of colors on Broad Branch Road:

What a nice walk!