Mom and BilliJo have been talking about coming to the Beard Farm for Thanksgiving some year, and this seemed like a good opportunity. John and I drove from Tucson and picked them up at the Dallas airport. The excitement was high! Or John might have just hit the accelerator pedal on the Rivian...
We really enjoyed seeing friends and relatives, and BilliJo got to experience some Texas hospitality. Mom and I walked and talked on the road, we tried to help with all the big preparations, and of course everyone ate well.
Thanksgiving day was as big and boisterous as ever. Just a few of the people who were there - a set of cousins from near and far:
BilliJo captured a short video of the Lykins family playing for everyone, always love listening to them perform:
A quieter moment that week, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace (like son, like mother):
We wanted to get a family picture, and my camera didn't much like the inside lighting, so we headed outside and discussed angles and where to stand (with the flag half-mast for Rosalynn Carter):
Despite our lack of leg coordination, I think this came out pretty well:
On the way back to the airport, BilliJo wanted to look at Texas boots. I haven't been in a Cavender's in years - it was fun to wander around and try on a couple things. What do you think?
Mom could be a National Park ranger!
Back at the much-emptier house, I did some sorting of things we've been storing in the back bedroom over the years. I truly adore the hair on this young man:
Dad made this marquetry artwork for me, an image of my childhood dog Whisper (who barked all the time):
Quite the collection of metal items:
Memories of past adventures:
One way to pare down our stuff - at least for pieces made of wood:
I had time for a run on the trails at Lindsey Park, where I found this cute artwork:
One last family gathering before John and I needed to start driving back to Arizona:
We discovered this in Eastland, causing me to try to emulate Stephen Colbert doing Bernie Sanders with "soup!"
More interesting things to see, like a giant bison skull sculpture in Abilene:
Beautiful fall color!
We had a fun little stroll through the Dr. Seuss park in Abilene:
Hello Horton!
Turtles all the way down?
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not"
Thank you Mr. Lorax!
Odessa has a replica Stonehenge on the university campus - who knew?
It's set up to cast a shadow from the Heel Stone across the street directly into the center of the monument at dawn on the Summer Solstice. I guess we'll need to come back in a few months.
An odd door in El Paso:
And finally in Las Cruses, my favorite chili pepper:
Fun trip, thank you family for a fantastic Thanksgiving!
No comments:
Post a Comment