Got up (very) early on Thursday morning to feed the cats and head for New Jersey for Thanksgiving. I was traveling extra early because the weather forecast for the Rout 15 corridor was for snow, sleet and freezing rain starting around 8 AM. I was on the road by 4:45 AM and in Linden, NJ just in time to catch the 9 AM start of the Macy's Parade show.
In attendance at Grandma's house were my daughter, Jessica, who lives there; Terry, who had gone in on Tuesday to assist with preparations; and nephew Brian and his fiancee Vicky, who had flown in from Milwaukee.
We gathered in the TV room and watched the parade. It may have started as a commercial promotion for Macy's but it's become even worse since way back when. The number of Broadway shows, and NBC television that were pushed and the number of B-list entertainers highlighted was obnoxiously high. The TV coverage didn't pay enough attention to the balloons for which the parade is famous.
After Santa Claus made his appearance at the conclusion of the parade, we settled around the table for a feast of turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, asparagus, kernel corn, stuffing, and gravy. We followed with apple, pumpkin, and pecan pie. Our meal began with a toast while we sipped some asti. When the asti was gone, we opened a bottle of Riesling. And all was good with the world.
When the meal was finished, the turkey was not the only thing that was stuffed. A condition which makes this After Thanksgiving Meal Poem.... found at Theo Sparks' place very appropriate.
Then it was time to sit back and watch some football (rooting against the Cowboys and the Patriots but for the Jets) while we fielded phone calls from the west coast. First Rick (my son) called from Portland to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Then Laura (my niece and god daughter, Brian's sister) called. And finally Terry's sister (Brian's Mom and Grandma's younger daughter) called. All three calls came in on cell phones and were passed from person to person around the room. All had to end when the batteries started to reach near zero capacity.
We all sat around watching the games and looking at some of the photos I took on our Alaskan Adventure this summer.
Except for the Patriots winning and the rain that fell from noon on, it was a beautiful day.
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Today, we all went our ways. Jessica was first out as she had to report to work at the Apple Store at The Mall at Short Hills for Black Friday. Then I started out for the Aerie (with a stop in Parsippany for gasoline and a couple of dozen bagels from the Baldwin bagel Shop), Terry followed as soon as she had picked up some left over turkey (the carcass for soup) and cheese cake. That left Grandma, Brian and Vicky and they were heading to Atlantic City to hit the casinos. (Their own Black Friday tradition.)
The sky cleared as I drove westward on I-80 and it was a gorgeous day by the time I got home at noon. Terry was just a half hour behind. The three cats, who had been fed at 4:30 AM Thursday, were extremely happy to see me. At least until they had been fed, then it was cold shoulders all around. As usual.
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There are indications that we had some snow at the Aerie after I left yesterday. However, since the temperature rose into the 40s later, virtually all of it has melted and disappeared. Despite the bright sunshine, we've seen our high temperature for the day (42 early this morning). The radio forecast is calling for a low of around 20 degrees tonight and increasing winds. Tomorrow we may have some snow flurries with highs only reaching the mid 30s. Sunday will be sunny and around 40 as will Pennsylvania's Unofficial State Holiday (Opening Day of gun deer season) on Monday. It's finally starting to feel like fall and even incipient winter.
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