chelidon

After almost a week of hosting 20-25 people for an event here (the event was only 4 days, but some of the folks showed up early or stayed late), we'll be having a reasonably compact Thanksgiving dinner -- household, family, a few friends, about an even dozen around the table. P and C have been cooking since early this morning, and the centerpiece is a 24-lb turkey we got from a farmer/co-worker friend who raises all organic/free range cows, turkey, chickens and so on. 24 lbs is a big bird, but not nearly their biggest, which topped out at 48 lbs(!) Amazing, and proof positive you don't need hormones, antibiotics or genetically-engineered crops and animals to grow and raise healthy food. Shortly I will head down into the cellar to pick out the wine for the meal (yeah, I get off very easy -- aside from making some fresh maple-vanilla whipped cream for the pumpkin pie, I'm off for the day to go put the chains on the tractor and other seasonal projects)

The barn renovations we've been doing came out as a huge success (pics soon), and the event we hosted last week (a yearly meeting for representatives from all of the international Reclaiming Camps) was really, really good -- by far the best event of its kind I've seen or attended, in terms of how well everyone got along, how much good work got done, and how smoothly the logistics went. Everyone here "done good," and I feel really happy about the outcome, and about how well our land and facilities are coming along. A whole lot to be thankful for, for sure.

And I feel like I've been going flat-out without a break for more than a month, because, well...I have. So while I do have to go in to work tomorrow (having taken Wed-Fri last week and Monday of this week off to handle site and meeting logistics and facilitation), I get to rest today, and on Saturday we head down to the shore for a couple of days of family time and a second Thanksgiving feast with other family (broken homes lead to complicated holiday logistics ;>)

I cannot even begin to list all of the things I am grateful for at this moment, but chief among them are a healthy family and friends, abundant love, ease, good food, a warm hearth, and you.