11.25.01. 12.42pm.
thanks.
thanksgiving has come and gone once again. there was driving, and cooking, and eating, and laughing and singing and sleeping and lots of emoting going on. as it should be.
i have noticed a certain kind of light in the fall in the american northeast on cold days around sunset. if there is the right ammount of overcast, and you are driving a direction other than west, the air becomes honey and smoke colored, and it's all you can do not to cough because it is so sweet. the sky is gray, the sunset is apricot, and the trees are brown, but somehow the air itself is a dirty gold you could spread over your thanksgiving ham and be happy.
i spent a certain ammount of time on wednesday dealing with chestnuts. i had never dealt with a chestnut before, and i hope never to again. i had to cut them, and boil them, and while they were still hot peel them and chop them, and i burnt my fingers a little and got all messy and got poked under the fingernails by bits of shell, a tiny piece of which still resides in my right pointer finger. and it would be one thing if i thought they were yummy. but frankly, the stuffing could have done without them, in my opinion. and yet... it felt right, to have chestnuts on thankgiving.
read jon carroll's thanksgiving column, and then come back here.
there are times when i want to dance so badly all i can do is sit still. and there are times when all i can do is make a fool of myself. sometimes i do both at once.
there was less manic energy this year. but more gratitude? real gratitude, i think, is always tinged with sorrow.
and i know that my life is good, and i am really, truly grateful. happy thanksgiving, and god bless us, everyone!