Thankful Thanksgiving

Brother Robb sent me a photo the other day. It was a photo of a convertible Cadillac, one of those big monsters from the '70s, I believe. The Cadillac wasn't his, but it was his lead-in to a conversation. The car belongs to a guy we both knew back in the day, someone who was in my year at school, but someone who brother Robb also knew by way of other mutual friends.

Seems Robb contacted the Cadillac owner in the hopes he could build brother a custom motorcycle - the type of work that the Cadil - Jeff, had done in the past. Unfortunately, for Robb at the least, hard living and hard playing had left Jeff something of a physical wreck; with "two rods in his back" (my initial thought was that brother meant he had two hot rods in his backyard), he can hardly bend down any more, let alone do the physical work of building a custom bike. Brother Robb finished up the conversation by stating that we were both lucky to be as healthy as we are (knock on wood).

In a nutso, not-so-normal year we can still be thankful.

Every year, on this day, I do my grumbling, the "just once, why can't we do Thanksgiving at home" bit. But every year we get in the car and drive to someone else's house for good company and a good meal. Well, then along comes the year 2020 (which by the way, I don't believe was one of the years mentioned by Zager and Evans) and for only the second time (the first when we were all sick) there will be a Thanksgiving at home. The mrs. has pulled out all the stops, with a massive (former) bird, sweet potato casserole, cherry swirl cheesecake,  and who knows what else. It is way too much for the two of us (the son and his seven housemates choosing to keep themselves in Riverside, but plates are scheduled to be fixed and delivered to the doors of, at least, four neighbors, including one family from China who have never had the experience of an American Thanksgiving.

There are still things to be thankful for, including our ability to share. 

If you've got one, enjoy the long weekend (I vote for ignoring those obnoxious Black Friday ads, to shop local instead), do some rides and see some sights - I kicked things off by following the recently discovered and newly approved, Muir Route, finally making it to the Maw of Evey Canyon without any extensive foot-bound detours. From there, up the West Side Road, down Shinn / Mountain, cutting though "government property", over the dam, found another canid skull, down through the spreading grounds where I held a brief staring contest with a young buck, before moving on to better things.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!