(hank LOVES dressing up for thanksgiving!)

even though the corona is STILL effecting us all (nearly TWO YEARS later… HAY SEUS!) the pandemic has made me really grateful for a lot of things i took for granted PP…

TRAVEL! i am returning to sayulita with my children and dear family friends over the thanksgiving break and i am just beside myself. we have cancelled so many holidays the last two years and i can’t believe i will soon find myself by an ocean (knock wood - you NEVER know what may disrupt your plans these days!) i am going to try my best to remember to bring a swimsuit - i almost always forget one when i am packing for a beach holiday - and currently i am a rusty traveler.

(sayulita sunshine smiles PP … we CAN’T WAIT to go back!)

(just LOOK at this pretty beach)

VACCINES! my sweet lu will get her first injection within a few days and i am so relieved. having one unvaccinated member of our family has felt like none of us are vaxxed. i know we will all sleep a little better when she also has a bubble of protection around her… hank is still not eligible but he has maintained a very small pod - mostly just him and louie. he is also very careful when out in the world - he always makes sure to safely sniff the bum (which IS gross!), rather than the face (which breathes out potential contagion) when he meets someone new on a walk so i haven’t been as worried about him. the corona also seems to effect cats more than dogs - i keep reading about the lions in zoos across the country contracting the virus - and hank stays well away from all cats large and small.

(hank and louie podding at the beginning of the pandemic… look how TINY louie is!)

(hank and louie having a pod playdate mid pandemic)

(hank and louie wrestling with a stuffy recently… right before they collapse into naps)

FALL! i think mother nature wanted to make up for all of the hurricanes and fires and earthquakes and floods that have been wreaking havoc all over our world and we have enjoyed the MOST beautiful boulder fall. our whole town was just stunning (i DO think i had the very prettiest tree!) … i just wish i had taken more photos. sometimes we don’t have any fall in boulder - we go straight from a 105 degree summer to an october blizzard and that’s that - BASTA!

(i just can’t believe my tree this year)

fall also brought us some pretty spectacular sunrises - ranging from super saturated hot pinks to sweet pastels that have been the backdrop for my morning coffee… a lovely way to start the day.

(here are some sunrises from just last week… HOT PINK!)

(soft pastels)

MAHJONG! my mahj group has resumed playing live with actual tiles and it is so much better than our online games (even when we were simultaneously zooming.) i love the clink of the tiles when we’re “washing” them and setting up our hands. i love the designs of the “flower” tiles in particular (the flowers on the computer were not very pretty) and i love that we can get distracted in conversation and not get kicked out of the game (if you don’t take you turn swiftly online you just get ejected… very rude i think!) mostly i just love seeing the faces of my darling friends (and the SNACKS which we didn’t have with the online games.)

(here i am mahjing - that means WINNING! - PP at anne marie’s… i LOVE mahjing!)

(aren’t the flower tiles pretty?)

THE INFRASTRUCTURE BILL! this doesn’t really have to do with the pandemic, but i am so grateful it finally got hashed out and now i am HOPING they can work out the voting rights bill because voter repression has literally been keeping me up at night. when i wake at 3 am stressed, i read heather cox richardson’s blog, “letters from an american” where she both breaks down the news and puts it in historical context. i have learned so much about the southern democrats from the 1860s and how they tried to restrict voting. admittedly, sometimes her posts make me more anxious but i always come away with a deeper understanding of what is going on.

FAMILY TIME! we are spending thanksgiving in california with my parents and we are just delighted. i will leave you with my mother’s wild rice stuffing that tastes so much better when she makes it than when i do. i have enjoyed this dressing almost every thanksgiving of my life… apparently my brother and i didn’t like bread stuffing (maybe i WAS meant to live in boulder where bread is unheard of!) when we were little so she started making this one. wishing you all a safe, peaceful, delicious holiday! x00xx

WILD RICE STUFFING

4 C cooked rice (combination of short brown rice and wild rice)

4 green onions, chopped

4 large dried shiitake mushrooms, chopped or 4 fresh porcini mushrooms, chopped (i think i use MORE)

4 chicken apple sausages browned, sliced and quartered or a package of bacon cooked and chopped

1 jar chestnuts (not sweet ones) chopped * these are hard to find

2 cans of water chestnuts, chopped

2 T soy sauce (or to taste - i am sure i use more)

6 T vegetable oil

salt and pepper to taste

in a wok or large fry pan heat 6T oil until hot. add onions and mushrooms, fry for a minute or two. add both kinds of chestnuts and all of the rice. mix in bacon and/or sausage. add soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste. stir fry until well mixed.

* when heating up for leftovers add chicken broth so it doesn’t get dry.

(onions and mushrooms in the wok)

(rice cooking in the back while browning chicken apple sausage)

click here for my mother’s raisin free cranberry sauce