Prepping for Thanksgiving weekend and a visit from my folks as they make their way back to California for the winter. As my Mum was still recovering from her hip replacement only five weeks earlier, we took it easy. It was a lovely visit all together. Very grateful they made the stop in the Netherlands on their way from London to Bolinas.

It’s been quite a year and most people are trying to make sense of it all. I don’t want to dwell on the crazy parts, but I do want to acknowledge them and know that with love, friendship, community and empathy we can shine a light into the darkness and lead us together through the scary parts. Look for the helpers and we will make it through to the other side.

"Stop thinking this is all there is. Realize that for every ongoing war & religious outrage & environmental devastation, there are a thousand counterbalancing acts of staggering generosity & humanity & art & beauty happening all over the world right now on a breathtaking scale. Resist the temptation to drown in fatalism, to shake your head & sigh & just throw in the karmic towel. Realize that this is the perfect moment to change the energy of the world, to step right up & crank your personal volume: right when it seems dark and bitter & offensive & acrimonious & conflicted, there is your opening.

Remember magic. And finally believe you are part of a groundswell, a resistance, a seemingly small but actually very, very large impending karmic overhaul, a great shift, the beginning of something important, potent, & unstoppable." – this quote was transcribed from the wall of a place of worship

November 24 – Day 380

This late morning winter sunrise was so pretty on the ride through our nearby park, I had to stop and snap it up.

November 25 – Day 381

Every once in a while, the mist comes through so incredibly dense and thick. Again, I was inspired and went out early just to take the photo of this scene. I came promptly back in to get warm again with another cup of morning coffee.

November 26 – Day 382

At most Dutch elementary schools, kids from ages 8-12 have to make their classmates a surprise gift based on their likes, hobbies and wishes for Sinterklaas. Each child fills out a questionnaire which is randomly distributed throughout the class. David got a classmate who plays hockey, so we made a hockey stick out of paper napkin rolls and papier-mâché. Took several days, but we got there.

November 27 – Day 383

David and I drove to Rotterdam to pick up Granny and Grandpa from the Eurostar so they could more easily get to ours. Granny sensibly reserved and used a wheelchair for the trips on Eurostar and then their flight to CA. It really did ease her trip and that’s what counts.

We seem to have started a family tradition on the first evening of their arrival of having sushi delivered for dinner. No cooking necessary, super easy and yummy - win-win. Afterwards, we played a game of Clue before bedtime.

November 28 – Day 384

Friday afternoon, I took Dad into Utrecht to meet up with the Dutch philosopher Gerard de Vries. Prof de Vries had read his book “Suddenly Something Clicked” and wrote the most incredible letter of praise as the book had clearly resonated with him even though he recognized he wasn’t the target audience. Gerard and his wife Pauline Terreehorst recently wrote and published the book “Nog eens zien”. It dissects the movies that you want to see again and again - a couple of Grandpa’s œuvres featuring therein. The conversation flowed between their love of European cinema history, their thoughts on current worldwide politics and life in the Netherlands.

On the way to this meeting in downtown Utrecht we passed by a Bubble Tea house and they were doing some sort of cross promotion with green matcha tea and Wicked and used the tagline “Return to Oz”, so I made Dad go in there and take this photo. Had to be done. 😆

November 29 – Day 385

Saturday we celebrated Thanksgiving with loved ones. Before the meal, I showed everyone Dr Heather Cox Richardson’s history lesson on the origins of Thanksgiving in the USA. David had asked me the day before about why we celebrate Thanksgiving and I did my best, but she is a history professor after all and a darned good one.

After that, all eleven of us sat down around the table, each one saying what we were grateful for and then tucked in.

After a delicious (if I do say so myself) meal of turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn bread, cranberry sauce and salad, we played a game from my childhood. “Kim’s game” is an memory game where you have a minute to memorize all the objects on the tray and a couple of minutes to write as many of them down as one can. I only just now learned about the game’s origin from the book Kim by Rudyard Kipling - not sure how that tidbit skipped my British upbringing. It was fun to introduce friends to this game and carry on family traditions. I have such fond memories of Thanksgiving with four families (Murchs, Robbins, Dalvas & Barwoods) celebrating at each other’s houses over the years. We didn’t break into charades this time though. 😀

I was going to make only Pecan Praline Pumpkin Pie but I made enough dough for an Apple Pie as well. A friend brought over yummy chocolate brownies just out of the oven. They all went down like a treat. Still need to work on my gluten-free dough to make it moist enough but it worked with ice cream by their side.

November 30 – Day 386

Sunday we had a lazy family morning and Granny and David played Dinosaur Monopoly from the British Natural History Museum. Very sweet to see them playing together and nice for them to hang out before Granny and Grandpa headed out on their next leg of their journey.

I drove my folks to Schiphol airport, got them checked in for their flight and then to the “assistance” area. Granny was sensible and had ordered her wheelchair to help her get to the gate so she would be good for the long journey back to California via Dublin. Saying goodbye was bittersweet as always but I was glad I saw them safely off.

It’s the time of year to start listening to “Holiday” soundtracks and while my son loves pop versions of Christmas songs, I prefer what my father would play in the late 80s early 90s. we had several CDs of various volumes of “A Winter’s Solstice” by Windham Hill. Listening to these albums makes me feel all cozy and gezellig as they are lovely classical interpretations. Here’s one: Ira Stein & Russel Warder / Engravings II from “A Winter’s Solstice Vol 1”. Enjoy.