Turkey Grease

This was a week with much thanks to give. My father-in-law is recovering from major (mostly successful) heart surgery—and my mother-in-law is recovering too, in her way, from the shake-up of her partner's illness and reemergence. Meanwhile, Pete, the kids and I met our newest family member: 3-month-old Alex, son of Pete's older brother Dave. Then Pete and I saw a hottttt John Mayer Trio show at the Bowery Ballroom, two years to the very day since our first JM show at Madison Square Garden—and got to hang out with JoAnn, Jocelyn, and other friends old and new. We spent Turkey Day with my brother's family in NJ, and his m-i-l cooked a feast for the 7 kids and 8 adults in attendance (it even included octopus and ham!). I was immersed in city life for a few days, which is a great reminder of who I am fully (since I am of NY), as well as why I have embraced the northlands. I mean, America! All those lights ablaze at all hours! Multitude of vehicles, bigass stores and restaurants everywhere, crisscrossing routes all to get you from A to B, constant flow of people on the sidewalk! And Asian cuisine abounding, which I ate at every opportunity. (Fave restaurant name on this trip: Yum Mee.) Maine is radically not like that.

Still, America's a nice place to visit, and we all did, happily. 

 

BTW, hooray for hotels with floaty down pillows and duvets. Ahhhhhh. I don't even have those at home!
 

Came home tonight to relieved cats, crusty snow on the lawn, and a cranking furnace (another thing to be thankful for). Not to mention the excitement of getting back on the 'net after a week—where I found that one of my cousins had sent me precious scanned images of my mom as a girl, pics I'd never seen before. I received them on what would have been Mom's 73rd birthday.

And that was the other blessing about being in the city—I felt Mom's presence there, in the glittery, boxy buildings at night and walking the sidewalks of Herald Square in the wan sunshine. One night last week, actually, I dreamt I saw her again...I was incredulous, and she was nonplussed (classic Mom). We talked, I took her hand, and I really felt her clutching my hand in the dream. God, it felt good, familiar—reassuring.
 

Yes, thanks. And thanks again.