Mom and Apple Pie

[da]

Well, that was the very model of a modern traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey was glazed with a really nice pomegranate and sage sauce, and my cousin brought bourbon sweet potatoes. We went through ten pounds of mashed potatoes, two heads of broccoli, half the cranberry mold, and 1.5 of three pies.

Conversation was lively. Grandma had some great zingers. She's pretty sharp for 98 years old. They think she can come home from rehab in three weeks, when she's a bit stronger than she was when she had the fall. I was impressed when she first came in the door, and seemed so energetic, even if she's not walking. Physio's done good things for her.

My cousin's gotten a black chow, who is really sweet, even if his face has a distinctly scary ursine appearance.

It's pouring down rain, and I'm happy to have a warm place to sleep tonight.

Yes, I wish I were going home tomorrow.

Comments

[melted-snowball.livejournal.com]

One major problem is that they're very expensive airplane tickets. Getting from YYZ -> CLT, say, is US$600/person or thereabouts; things get only more expensive if we went to Greensboro. The usual workaround is to drive to BUF, as da_lj did for the trip he's currently on. But that's oftennot possible in winter; Buffalo gets a truly enormous amount of snow.

So that turns it into a $2000 weekend for the two of us. That's a lot.

The other problem is that they're long trips with too little payoff: I've gotten burned out on these airplane-based Midwinters; the trip to Ghost Ranch really cured me of that. When we were poorer, but had more time, we had great fun in California. But we also stayed for a couple extra days on one end and visited with several friends in the Bay Area. North Carolina? Not so appealing.

So I'd like to go, but remain somewhat unconvinced. I am also leaving for Israel on the Thursday after the gathering.