Good morning, Friends and Neighbors and All The Ships-at-Sea:
It is a chill blustery almost-Winter day. About 32*. If you care to check in on Commercial St in beautiful downtown Provincetown
here you are: http://www.provincetown.com/features/provincetown_web_cam/
With all the various traveling and assorted storms in the NorthEast all of the Pilgrims made it home to Chez O'Shea. We were a bit fewer this year as it was the turn for my brother and his brood to go his wife Ms O'Shea's family so they can be here with us for Christ-mas.
Earlier in the month Mom had conducted a family-council online
about the menu for Thanksgiving day. It was an almost-unanimous vote to drop the traditional Thanksgiving turkey menu! Grateful! I am so tired of taste-free (sorry, Mom), dry awful old bird. Besides President Obama and that silly Turkey-Pardon, another bird was pardoned at the O'Shea residence. (Did anyone note on the news that President Obama in waving his hand over the pardoned turkey slipped in the "Catholic tradition" and traced the Sign of the Cross over the bird? I wonder if he even realized what he was doing. It was almost as mindless as when Catholics sometime do it. . . .hahahahaa. In his community action days in Chicago he worked mostly with a Catholic parish social action group. And ways of action easily slip into our own with time. )
So back to yesterday family dinner menu: this year we had two entrees. . . standing rib roast and lobster thermador. . .totally
awesome, with all the fixins. . . ;-) Besides the red wine for the beef there was a very impressive and palatable white wine. . a very tasty Chardonnay. Oh my, that was good, very good. ;-))
Grandmama Mde Bouvier had arrived late Wednesday with Peter.
She had decided to wait and come home with him. . .she is good travel company. . . just enough chatter and also restful quiet that makes a trip on a stormy day quite comfortable. So he visited a bit and then head off to his own family. We may all get together after Mass on Sunday for mother's "Traditional Sunday Brunch". . ( see how I am throwing in the T-word, all over the place. . LOL ! )
In my haste throwing stuff together on Tuesday for my own trip down to the Cape I see I forgot to include my camera so I shall have to rely on family for any pics I may be able to include en blog. Aging, ya know. . . ho ho ho One of the family's older friends used to say often on state-occasions "Oh all the things I've lost in life I miss my mind the most. . "
I hope you all are enjoying your holidays with those most-near-and
-dear to you. . .and that you avoided the indignities of that awful Black Friday commericialized money-making day where the business entrepreneurs create needs and desires to spend what we barely possess on stuff we do not need!
Have fun!
Peace, love, joy. . . .
It is a chill blustery almost-Winter day. About 32*. If you care to check in on Commercial St in beautiful downtown Provincetown
here you are: http://www.provincetown.com/features/provincetown_web_cam/
With all the various traveling and assorted storms in the NorthEast all of the Pilgrims made it home to Chez O'Shea. We were a bit fewer this year as it was the turn for my brother and his brood to go his wife Ms O'Shea's family so they can be here with us for Christ-mas.
Earlier in the month Mom had conducted a family-council online
about the menu for Thanksgiving day. It was an almost-unanimous vote to drop the traditional Thanksgiving turkey menu! Grateful! I am so tired of taste-free (sorry, Mom), dry awful old bird. Besides President Obama and that silly Turkey-Pardon, another bird was pardoned at the O'Shea residence. (Did anyone note on the news that President Obama in waving his hand over the pardoned turkey slipped in the "Catholic tradition" and traced the Sign of the Cross over the bird? I wonder if he even realized what he was doing. It was almost as mindless as when Catholics sometime do it. . . .hahahahaa. In his community action days in Chicago he worked mostly with a Catholic parish social action group. And ways of action easily slip into our own with time. )
So back to yesterday family dinner menu: this year we had two entrees. . . standing rib roast and lobster thermador. . .totally
awesome, with all the fixins. . . ;-) Besides the red wine for the beef there was a very impressive and palatable white wine. . a very tasty Chardonnay. Oh my, that was good, very good. ;-))
Grandmama Mde Bouvier had arrived late Wednesday with Peter.
She had decided to wait and come home with him. . .she is good travel company. . . just enough chatter and also restful quiet that makes a trip on a stormy day quite comfortable. So he visited a bit and then head off to his own family. We may all get together after Mass on Sunday for mother's "Traditional Sunday Brunch". . ( see how I am throwing in the T-word, all over the place. . LOL ! )
In my haste throwing stuff together on Tuesday for my own trip down to the Cape I see I forgot to include my camera so I shall have to rely on family for any pics I may be able to include en blog. Aging, ya know. . . ho ho ho One of the family's older friends used to say often on state-occasions "Oh all the things I've lost in life I miss my mind the most. . "
I hope you all are enjoying your holidays with those most-near-and
-dear to you. . .and that you avoided the indignities of that awful Black Friday commericialized money-making day where the business entrepreneurs create needs and desires to spend what we barely possess on stuff we do not need!
Have fun!
Peace, love, joy. . . .
J u s t i n
11 comments:
Your description of Obama pardoning the turkey reminds me of that marvelous scene in Amadeus when F. Murray Abraham (playing Antonio Salieri) is wheeled through the asylum, making the sign of the cross over the bedlams and saying, "Mediocrities of the world, I absolve you." Ain't it the truth.
Hope your Thanksgiving weekend continues to be great Justin! But i have to lodge a complaint (sorry). IMO, it's really rude to tell us how much you liked the wine you had and then not tell us what brand it was :). Happy holidays!
Ahhh... Justin, our Thanksgiving sure was different as we welcomed a newborn into the family last week! I have a new grand-niece.
Dear Grand-Uncle Jimm,
I have one niece and three nephews who are also grand. . .;-)) bu I am not a grand uncle. . .;-)
Nice to have some kids around the house. . .they help stay real.
Uncle Justi. . . ;-)
Even though I'm traveling solo, JustinO, it's nice to read about your family get togethers all lovey dovey and kootchie koo, sharing special times and enjoying each others' company.
As to being a grand uncle, I have grand nieces and nephews I've not seen yet. Matter of fact, I have nephews and nieces I've not seen yet... and they're about your age. Hehe. Quite the contrast to you and yours.
Well, it must be nearly Christmas now I've read this.
Justin holiday-posts are great, I look forward to them for sure.
My imagination fills in the picture you broad brush and I do love it.
Thanks Justin, I won't bore you with my forthcoming Christmas, it seems to boring and colourless. Now most of my family are all gone it seems pointless.
Best to think back to all those wonderful times and people when we were all still here.
You reminded me just now of the wonderful noisy crowded gatherings we used to have at my Mum's parent's house when I was a kid.
They lived in a large old rambling ex-guest house, more bedrooms than I could count, a scary dark long hallway when I was even younger..ha. The lounge was huge, with a very large fireplace, slate tiled in front with big wood boxes either side.. plenty of room for the dozen or so stocking to hang temptingly with hints of contents poking out their tops.
A big old dining room with a looong table (I used to help granny put extra leaves in for big events, turning the handle at one end like cranking a model T)
Christmas Dinner was a real production, that large kitchen with several stoves and ovens was like a furnace... especially when the temps outside were usually in the high 30Cs or even into the 40s. It might have been a big old stone building with nice thick walls, but after a week or two of over 35s it did slowly heat up.
Mayhem in the kitchen was fun to watch... and about the only time granny ever got short with us kids... food at Christmas was all-important, more so than us kids.
You see granny and grandad were foodies, the meals at Christmas were absolute banquets.
In addition to family (and there were plenty of us) granny invited friends, usually the older widows and widowers in the community... country towns are like that, eh.
So the table groaned under the multiple plates of various meats, vegies...always salads as well, just about every condiment ever invented...sauces, chutney's etc...
After everyone was forcibly stuffed to breaking point, we'd all take a break while dishes were cleared and the mountains of deserts, granny's crowing glories, replaced the mountains of left over meats etc.
After some starters... jellies, trifles, tarts, etc... came the pudding parade. It was the culmination of the evening... in walked granny with a huge plate with a huge pudding, steaming and glistening and blue flames from the brandy flickering so close to her face.
Brilliant.... yep, writing this makes me all teary... great days our young days. The best.
Justin, make sure you really take notice even more than you already do...and store these memories from your Christmas for later life.
They are gold.
Merry Christmas all... yeah, a bit early, but now I'm in the mood, thanks Justin.
Greg, I thought that I was the only one that noticed how blessed
that we are to have such a young
man give us his unforgettable touch of the most beautiful part of living. The Holidays.......
Justin, in giving many of us your joyful celebration of Thanksgiving, and Christmas we just treasure and hold in our hearts your Joyful Love of a heart
that never leaves any of us. You share---we are the great full receivers of your writing. Thank You.
Well said Joe.
S'funny, as we all sorta knew, one day Justin would move on and let this blog end.
What I didn't realise until he did signal a move towards that end is just how much I'd miss him and the chat in which we intermittently contribute.
What I also did not expect was his response to our reactions.... to continue for at least the time being.
I just wish I could have and had more useful input to the points and subject he raises, something to make it worth is while. But I can rarely find something useful to contribute after I "told my story" over a few posts.
Whatever, I just enjoy being here and sharing his life in just this very small way.
We are all very lucky indeed.
Although there are still 7 siblings in my family, this year we find ourselves at a bit of a loss having lost now both of our parents. Perhaps next year we'll be able to face that tradition again.
Instead I found myself driving the limo to the Lion's game down in the city with some wonderful women in the back. Waiting for them back at the compound was their husbands who took on the rolls of chefs-for-the-day.
I like the way the new holidays are looking.
Always keeping my mind and heart open. Have a great holiday my friend.
Sounds Good, Stew. . .very good!
Post a Comment