Thanksgiving For Two . . . sort of

This Global Pandemic didn't stop us from having an epic Thanksgiving, nosireebop it did not.

Our friend Michelle had a great idea and we ran with it.

Thanksgiving 2020 . . . Delivery & Pick-Up style.

Everyone made their own turkey and stuffing and gravy. But the sides? Oh, those we shared.

First stop . . . 

Rachel and Michelle's, to deliver our -- and by "our" I mean "Mistah's" world-famous Garlic Gorgonzola Smashed Red Potatoes and not-quite-as-world-famous-but-equally-as-good Smashed Turnips . . . 

(Making them on Wednesday night.)

. . . and to pick up for the next stop . . . 

. . . Kelly's! To deliver our world-famous-yadda-yadda potatoes and turnips, Michelle's super-famous Potato Gratin and Rachel's old fashioned Crange (as described by Rachel), and to pick up Kelly's masterpieces.

Aw . . . 

Then? Back to Rachel and Michelle's . . . 

. . . to deliver Kelly's world-yadda Bean Cake (think old school green bean casserole, and go crazy in your mind with it) and Red Cabbage (with bacon; a Mumsie specialty) for Rachel and Michelle, and for Rachel's mom and dad*.

Brilliant idea, right?

In the meantime, *Howie and Marcie (who also received our two specialties) had delivered four pies to Rachel & Michelle's, so each household got its own whole pie . . . 

. . . made up of four kinds of pie.

I know!

It was brilliant and delicious and perfect and we all loved it.

We tried to do a plate contest -- another Hanrahan tradition -- but Mistah and I, at least, were way too, um, celebratory to focus on contests and rules and voting . . . 

But! We did get entries . . . 

. . . from Michelle, me, Kelly, Nancy from afar, and Mistah. 

Kelly voted for Billy and I don't think anybody else voted so he won. But he also deserved it. 

I guess. 

And then?

Dessert.

And then?

Collapsation in front of the fire. I had no choice in the matter and it was utterly delicious down there. I did get up later on and make the turkey stock, though. And did another round of cleaning. I was on fiyah.

It was an all-around glorious day and we're so thankful.

And on Friday? Well, there's only one thing to do at a time like this.

Bloodys . . . 

. . . and Turkey Soup-making . . . 

. . . and when I say Turkey Soup-making I mean Turkey Soup-making.

And after all that it was still only Friday morning.

Hope your Thanksgiving weekend was just as blissed out. And hope yours ended on Sunday evening thusly:

Because that was was the perfect ending.

Peace out, Friends. 

Keep your mask on.

T-Day Minus Three

Whatever your plans are for Thanksgiving Day, big (no) or small (yes!) I hope they're good, and safe, and comforting, and rewarding.

My own personal Mistah and I are having Thanksgiving for Two . . . with a little -- nay, a lot -- of help from some of our favorite friends.

That information is will be entirely forthcoming next week.

In the meantime, this Fall continues to be ridiculously gorgeous, so please indulge me by enjoying some Mistah photos while I go chop garlic, wouldja?

Steven's house.

And my personal favorite . . . 

Ahhhhh . . . 

Have a lovely Thanksgiving, friends.

Be safe.

Keep your mask on. 

Peace.

Light

Light makes all the difference.

I mean, as everyone knows.

Por ejemple:

From foggy morning dawn . . . 

. . . to sunny morning . . . 

. . . to lovely afternoon . . . 

We don't get much of it these short November days, but the light we do get has a certain je ne sais quoi, amiright? A certain something, a certain mystery, a certain magic  . . .

Light = Hope.

And I am in pursuit.

WeDidIt

The last time I -- and many zillions of friends and family and acquaintances and like-minded citizens -- felt this level of relief and hope and stunned delight was, oh, way back in '08 or so. Way back in the hopeful early days of the Century. Nay, Millennium. When we won. We won! Peace and hope and intelligence prevailed and our guy Obama did it.

And my friends, now that we're firmly into the early decades of this Millennium, well, our guy did it again. With the fundamental, passionate and bedrock help of one of the most badass woman America gets to call her own . . . 

AP photo

They did it.

We did it.

AP photo

WeDidIt!!

The news finally came through on that gorgeous Saturday morning when Mistah and I were on a bike ride, so we found out when we arrived back home . . . 

. . . which coincided nicely with the next item on our agenda . . . 

I know there is a ton of work to do. I know that 71 million (and counting . . . literally) Americans voted for the incumbent 

(why . . . why . . . why?) BUT. But for now we once again celebrate peace and hope and intelligence, and are deeply and profoundly grateful for the good citizens who got out there and made a difference in their -- in our -- communities.

Because we are -- I still want to believe -- in this together.

WeDidIt!

Reflection

 All we can do at this point is hope for the best . . . .

. . . and reflect.

Reflect on what has happened  . . . 

. . . and reflect on what we hope will happen.

We've done what we can . . . 

. . . now we wait, and hope . . . 

. . . and reflect.

Fire Faces

We've had a fire going all weekend because it comforts us and we need comfort, dagnamit. 

And upon endlessly gazing into the blaze I couldn't help but notice ...

. . . faces in the fire.

Do you see her? She seems content in there . . . 

. . . and so does he.

And so were we. Just ceaselessly staring into the fire . . . 

. . . at the faces in the fire.

Got Away

We got away.

My life is easy in these weird times, but Mistah has been working so very hard, and we were lucky enough to get away on a Get Away. 

We got Gone Away.

It was just the three of us in our (scrubbed clean and sanitized) little rental house house -- me, the Mistah, and our clorox wipes.

It was beautiful and stunning and lovely and everything we dreamed for . . . 

. . . beautiful . . . 

. . . stunning . . . 

. . . lovely . . . 

. . . and dreamy.

Oh yes . . . 

. . . We had ourselves a Time.

Looking Up

Amid all the everything, it sometimes helps to go outside -- with one's trusty Mistah in tow -- and look up at the night sky . . . 

. . . at Full Moonie . . . 

. . . at Orion . . . 

And sometimes it's enough to simply leave it at that.