THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving was very different this year and was cause for reflection.  The setting was the South Carolina shore and while the weather cooperated only grudgingly, the chance to be with relatives whom I haven't seen in a very long time was priceless.   There is also something sobering in how one becomes aware of family traits.   I remember an old bachelor uncle who to my child's mind was odd and off-putting.  Now I am the odd bachelor uncle, and thankfully, not all my my grand nieces and nephews hide under the dining room table when I amble into view.

Listening to the faint sound of braking surf while swinging on a rope swing at night is just as lovely as it sounds.  Tiny deer slip soundlessly through the pine brush, leaving hoof prints in the sand for the morning walkers to find.     

Children are pretty alien to me and a friend who knows me very well doubted that I could stand their company for six whole days.  I succeeded pretty well I think.  The children and I share the crucial trait of self absorption; they in their video games,  screaming and running about,  I in wasting time on the computer, goofing around on the beach, and of course, tippling in town.   We are both unfettered by the need for structure and totally absorbed in the simple pleasures of amusing ourselves.  

The adults are another matter.   Their single-minded devotion to football is now the nearest thing we have to a national religion and I must declare my atheism in a very total way.   Oh, why can't Baseball last all year! 

It seems the South is a pretty good place to pick up antiques.  There are acres of crap of course, but there are also  good values hidden among the  refuse.   One stroke of luck was the purchase of a metal detector for a mere $50.00.