An Early Thanksgiving

Generally, my extended family gathers 
on Thanksgiving at one of three residences.

 This year, because of conflicting schedules, 
we met this past weekend at the
"party barn" belonging 

to my brother's sister-in-law. 

All together, there were about twenty-four 
adults and children milling about in the heated 

confines of the old, re-purposed barn, 
just on the other side of walls that house 

a dark brown donkey, several pregnant goats,

and a flock of chickens.

The kids, all ten and under, took over one
of the tables for their activities.
These involved a vast array of colorful markers,
glitter, and cut paper.

My nephew Cyril, checks his messages 

while his youngest daughter, Maggie,

munches a marshmallow.

Here my brother, Doug, and sister-in-law, 

Fran, watch the proceedings 

with their granddaughter, Tallulah. 

We were preparing for our annual

holiday picture, taken with each of

us wearing a silly Christmas hat.

Afterwards, one of my grandnieces,

Kinley, made a project of stacking as many

of the hats as she could on her uncle Joseph.

The result is shown in the first picture.

It reminds me of artist Nick Cave's

Sound Suits.

(The Making of ) the Annual Holiday Photo

After setting up the camera, Dad (my nephew Joseph)

runs to take his place in the crowd shot.

This year, it numbered about twenty-eight people

who had gathered for a Thanksgiving meal

at a sister-in-law's barn.

This began as a casual idea by my

sis-in-law Fran for a photo Christmas card, 

so long ago I don't remember the first one. 

Everyone, from adults, to children, 

to various fur persons,

puts on a silly Christmas hat, chosen 

from a large collection of chapeaus 

and headbands. The picture above shows

some of my grandnieces

(Audrey, Maggie, and Savannah) choosing

their headgear while, below,

the wife of another nephew washes frosting

and crumbs from her daughter's face.

Another grandniece, Tallulah, at age four

shows a creative fashion sense, selecting two

pieces of headgear for her photo,

a Santa hat topped by glittery garland

pom-poms. It made her resemble

a sort of Yuletide version of a Skye Terrier,

one of which recently won Best-In-Show

at the National Dog Show.

A Crooked Journey

On an unseasonably warm afternoon, the low wooden fence 

zig-zags through the woods, imitating the path of 

the creek as it twists it's way to the river.

It's late autumn and the leaves have fallen from the trees, 

leaving them bare against the leaden sky. 

The wooden shed has been left to the weather as well, 

it's color fading to gray, returning to the color 

of the bare trees it came from.