The Thanksgiving That Was

Thanksgiving Morning, around 0800
OAFS Photo

Plans had been tossed about in the early days of autumn as to what The Missus Herself and Your Humble Scribe might be planning for the Thanksgiving holiday. LUSH, of course, wanted us in California. The Nuke was hoping we'd amble down to the Old Line State to spend Thanksgiving on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay.

As The Missus Herself had been in California not that long ago and was rather hoping not to make that long trip again for a while (back being in not so good shape but getting better), California was ruled out rather early on. We were sorta leaning towards Maryland, but as plans were already on the books to go there to celebrate the Birth of the Savior, I proposed New Hampshire for Thanksgiving at my Mom's house.

Thanksgiving Evening, around 1800
OAFS Photo

Well ...

As The Missus Herself pointed out, there was literally no place to stay at my Mom's, her spare bedroom being given over, as it were, to my kid brother's living area, as he, The Musician, had moved in with Mom back in the spring.

He, being retired, and Mom, unable to safely be on her own any more, it seemed a good idea. And it was, is, and remains so. So, where would we stay if New Hampshire was chosen?

My other kid brother, Ye Olde Vermonter proposed a solution. As my nephew, his son, The Young Vermonter, runs a rather nice and rather underused inn in my hometown, he might see his way clear to comping us a room. In fact, he insisted.

I tried to end run that by reserving a room and planning to pay, nephew canceled that and gave us a better room. I mean, the place is virtually empty, the owner seems to be maintaining its upkeep as a tax write-off, and why not take care of us along the way?

So yeah, we had a nice place to stay for two nights (the first three pictures are from our room) and we had a lovely time with my Mom and my two brothers.

The Musician had ordered a full up Thanksgiving feast from a local grocery emporium which came pre-cooked (so all that was needed was to warm everything up, then eat). Lodgings, check. Food, check.

So how about the weather?

The Morning after Thanksgiving, around 0800
OAFS Photo

Oh Lordy it was frightful.

We had a nice drive up on Wednesday, spent some time at Mom's after checking in to the inn, and pigged out on food which we'd brought up with us. Light fare, a charcuterie board, an ocean-load of shrimp cocktail, and some spring rolls and potstickers which The Missus Herself had prepped on Tuesday.

We pigged out and headed back to try and get some sleep after our three hours on the road. We sort of slept. Comfortable bed but first night in a strange place is always restless.

Thanksgiving dawned with a couple of inches of snow on the ground and snow still falling rather heavily. It was pretty heavy stuff and was falling fast.

Road maintenance in my hometown, where there is almost no industry and virtually no jobs to be had, has gone way downhill since my childhood. Back in my day the plows would have been out almost as soon as the white stuff began to accumulate. These days it seems they wait until it stops.

Ye Olde Vermonter swears that the town is now run by a bunch of 14-year olds with scarcely any talent at running anything, and the state of the roads on the way to Mom's on Thanksgiving was shameful.

The state had plowed their roads, just the town decided "to hell with it."

Thank the Lord for All Wheel Drive and Honda's very efficient Anti-lock Braking System. Going down the hill to the town square (a rather steep hill I must say) I pressed the brakes at the top and felt the vehicle just keep going. I could feel the brake pedal doing a jitterbug under the toe of my shoe and realized that the vehicle was "taking care of business."

We did stop when we wanted to, you just had to kind of anticipate that event. Steady pressure on the brake pedal and ABS did the rest.

It was though, a bit sporty.

We headed back to the inn before sunset to avoid driving back in an icy rut-laden nightmare. We made it back through the accumulated slush which had yet to freeze.

I heard the town out plowing at 0300 Friday morning. "'Bout time!" grumbles I before going back to sleep.

Friday morn, we checked out of the inn, stopped off at Mom's for a brief "Hello!" before heading back to the south upon roads which were nicely bare by that time (the temperature was climbing as well).

Thirty miles south of my homeland we discovered that they'd received barely a dusting in that area, I calculated six to eight in the homeland.

First snow, ill-timed, but we survived and had a nice visit. And doggone, it was pretty, if nasty to navigate.

The Road Behind the Inn
OAFS Photo

The Wood Behind the Inn
OAFS Photo

How was your Thanksgiving?

Now it's on to retirement (in three weeks!) and Christmas in Maryland.

Time, it doth fly.