Thanksgiving went pretty well, and I finally have a few moments to sit down at the keyboard. Had dinner this year with John and Sherry, who each had their parents in town. We did another non-traditional Thanksgiving, with steak and grouper, and tofu for the vegetarians, and we even had the canberries out (that processed log of cranberries which has become traditional for some reason, though I've never seen anybody touch it). The food was excellent, and fortunately timed with Connor's nap, so we were not pelted with food throughout the whole dinner. His little brother, Sean, is now six months, and is huge. He was born a month premature, and has more than made up for it. He recently saw other babies being fed solid food at daycare, and raised a fuss until he was fed the same thing. On top of that, he insists on grabbing the spoon and trying to feed himself. Fortunately, he settles for holding the first spoon while Sherry feeds him with a second, though Lord knows how long that trick will last. I have never been very comfortable with children, but so far I seem to be OK with John and Sherry's kids. I guess it's because they are part of the pack.

Time to start thinking about Christmas, and today I took care of my online shopping and travel arrangements. My only corporate gift this year is a Master and Commander DVD for my brother. Mom is getting a print by an artist I found online named George Boutwell. He specializes in Texas scenes and has done two paintings with family significance. The first, which I gave Mom last year, is of Osterman's General Store in Windthorst, a landmark right up there with the parish church and the house she grew up in. The second pertains to my previous posting about the Last Picture Show, and is a painting of the theater in Archer City as it looked in the 50's. It even shows the cast from the movie going inside. Here is how it looks today (1995 actually):


No, north Texas in winter is not very pretty.