On the occasion of my first Thanksgiving in Florida, I stopped to take special notice of the sights, sounds and smells: a neighbor's lawn mower buzzing nearby (yep, lawn is still alive and growing down here), warm sunlight streaming down through the fluffy scattered clouds, ducks and geese splashing in the ponds. Sounds like a lovely summer day, right? Or at least an Indian Summer day. But juxtapose all that against the smells of roasting turkey, mashed potatos and sensuous stuffing wafting from nearly every patio screendoor, and you'd have had a hard time believing this gorgeous day was truly a November 27th Thanksgiving! The brilliant weather here continues to boggle my mind... these first holidays out of Minnesota feel SO DIFFERENT, I almost imagine I'm on vacation at times.
Inspired by these observations, I decided to adopt a leisurely attitude for the remainder of the day. After walking Libby, I pulled out my trusty (albeit seldom-used) purple bike and hit the trails in my neighborhood for a four mile ride. I exchanged smiles with fellow bikers and joggers, and imagined we all shared a mutual yet unspoken sentiment: how lucky are we to be out exercising in beautiful weather on Thanksgiving day? And how lucky are we to soon be on our way to bountiful tables where we'll stuff our faces so insanely that the benefits of this exercise will become but a distant memory? ;-)
I very much enjoyed eating portions of just about everything on the McNamara's bountiful (not to mention beautiful) table this year. And I knew exactly where to sit, because my likeness had been crafted in the form of a toilet-paper-roll puppet labeled "Laurie" and placed near my plate. There is something to be said for the creativity of grandkids!
The resemblance is uncanny, don't you think?
1 comment:
Holy Sh*t Laurie. You sure you're not losing TOO much weight?! You look so damn thin!!! I miss you! Don't disappear on me!
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