Dear Family, Friends, and Diary,
Traveling on Thanksgiving can be hectic, but we set aside a whole week to do ours this year. The first stop was at the Rahimi home, not to see them but to dog-sit and "supervise" painters. The family was off in Hawaii for a few days so Marianne and I took over caring for Charli and little Zarbi. (It was Zarbi's first birthday.) These visits to the almost-empty home are relaxing, but we do need to arrange a visit when the family is there!
On Sunday, we went over the hill to Santa Cruz for a celebration of life for our friend Pete Prindle. Sobering.
Otherwise, we did essentially nothing until our Wednesday trip down to Chris and Leisa's in Monterey. We settled into their guest house, joining a pair of cats and pushing young Spencer out of his gaming space. Sorry to all.
That evening, we started the Thanksgiving tradition of eating too much with pizza and a sample of the holiday's apple pie.
A dozen of us gathered on Thanksgiving. The table was festive and there was plenty of time for chatting and taking pictures. The turkey was perfect, as were the mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, roasted veggies, and three home-made pies. Tradition all around.
The rest of our holiday weekend was ... limited. Marianne came down with some sort of stomach flu, keeping her in bed all Friday. More quiet time for me and I have to admit that was OK with me. The family invited me out to the beach for sunset pictures, but I passed. It would have been hard to concentrate while worrying.
The patient was good enough to travel Saturday afternoon, so we headed back to the Central Valley. Despite the holiday, traffic was not too bad and we were home just as the sun went down. It was a good week, perhaps a bit too quiet, but that is our life nowadays.
December and the Christmas Season are almost here, but our time is mostly unplanned. Hopefully, we will get a repaired car as a present, but the last I heard, the shop was still waiting for Tesla parts.
Stay tuned.
John and Marianne.