Turkey Day Weekend

For the second year in a row, the loving Aamodt's took me in for Thanksgiving, as I happen to be on the other side of the country from my family. Kristie and I drove down to Virginia, enjoying a beautiful sky. Normally this drive takes her eight hours, but somehow with the holiday traffic it ends up taking us eleven to twelve hours. We thought we were making such good progress, too, by skipping the traffic on the Mass Pike.We enjoyed a fantastic holiday feast with all the trimmings. Their friend who normally decorates the table was in the Macey's parade in NYC, so that was my job. I even folded the napkins into tulips. The turkey got to me early, though, and I fell asleep right after dinner... even before the pie. I had such a nice relaxing weekend. We watched plenty of movies, played the piano and sang, did a little shopping, lots of eating. Thanks so much, Aamodts!

On Saturday, Kristie and I went to Charlottesville to visit Monticello, Jefferson's homestead... you know, the one on the back of the nickel? Does it look familiar (even though it's not silver)?Jefferson designed the house so that the living quarters were together and all of the support work (kitchen, laundry, storage) was done in a completely separate area below and out of the way. The main house held the bedrooms, parlor, library, dining room, and greenhouse. This was Mulberry Row where the workshops (carpenter, smokehouse/dairy, blacksmith, etc.) were, and behind which were the gardens, vineyard and orchard.He was quite inventive and had all sorts of gadgets. My favorite was a grandfather clock in the hall that had long, long chains down the wall (and even into the basement) that marked what day of the week it was. This compass is attached to the weather vane on the roof, so that Jefferson wouldn't have to go all the way out the door to see where the wind was blowing from, but just look out the window.

Jefferson's grave and memorial.