Gathering

location, location, location

quite a few years ago, we decided to alternate families for Thanksgiving (rather than attempting two dinners & two locations in the same number of days).  on years that it is my side of the family, we also rotate location.  this year, with my parents coming up from a sojourn further south, we made it a Palmetto holiday and met in the middle, at my brother's house near Charleston ~

this egret was fishing at one of the small ponds

in my brother's neighborhood.

 sunshine, palm trees, and lovely marshland views

during a walk around the neighborhood.

 this bradford pear

& a rainbow of autumn leaves ~

green, yellow, orange, and red.

 another gorgeous egret.

mostest host & hostess

the adults, when back at the house, primarily dwelt

in the kitchen.

my brother overseeing shrimp & grits

my mother washing dishes

my father freeing the brussel sprouts

my sister-in-law's pretty table

guess which part the kids ate?

sweet potatoes, before they became a casserole.

one of many pies

when not preparing food,
eating food,
or cleaning up food,
we talked.

and the three youngest cousins invented a game.

 a friendly game of basketsoccerball

 the hot-potato technique (for beginners)

 the hook shot (professional-level)

there was, also, quite a bit of this....

which, actually, did include playing 'together'

...or so they said.

you can't be that close to the ocean & not go!

Mike & me

me & Dad

Alex (10), Joseph (14), & Samuel (17)

Grandpa and his grandsons

things shed,

things dead

a November walk on the beach,

and there seemed

an abundance of left-behind

white feathers,

a dead sea urchin,

and dozens of washed-up

starfish.

 they were all up & down the beach,

at the edge of the high tide mark.

one after the other after the other.

windows & lights

just to add a cherry

to the top of this Charleston day,

we enjoyed a stroll around downtown

in the evening.

the harbor master station

watchful frog

triple-lit

triple-framed

gas lamp effects

lights in a lighting shop

my favorite window

gathering people

Samuel, Joseph, & Alex....i-bonding

Dad, me (in reflection), Jeff, & Mom

my brother & me

me, Mom, Dad, & Jeff, pre-departure

my parents with their grandchildren

the H-K-H family

Happy Thanksgiving!

map-making in españa

i had the great fortune of spending my junior year of college in Spain.  unfortunately, i was, as you would assume...a junior in college.  so, experiences that i might have pursued had i been less distracted by navel-gazing tribulations barely registered on my Important Things map.  at least, that's how it seems in retrospect.

even so, a few glimmers of push-pin worthy map-making occurred for me through the art lecture course i took that year.  and, during winter travels, i was able to lay eyes on the art of Antoni Gaudí and Joan Miró in Barcelona, that unique city that is neither Spanish & certainly not French but something all its own ~ the majestic Pyrenees to the north, the seductive Mediterranean lapping its eastern edges.

i have encountered Miró exhibits twice in recent years.  the second (making the once into twice) was this weekend at the Nasher Art Museum.  (no photography allowed of his work, except the sculpture below owned by the Nasher.)  my favorite Miró paintings are the smaller, 'busy' ones with muted background colors; this exhibit had very large canvases with thick, bold strokes on primarily white backgrounds.  but i was interested to see some Miró sculptures, the most recent one in the exhibit from 1981 - two years before his death at age ninety!

we strolled through the other galleries,

and these are a few of the pieces

that caught my gaze.

not a Wyeth...in case you wondered.

loved this one ~ like a tattoo of sorts.

mostly liked for the story (below) & the benevolence.

~ i'd never heard of this saint ~

 i was taken with several works by an artist named Bruce Conner, who seems known for his mandalas.

here is one of his pieces...plus my shadow reflection.

 we went on Family Day

(it's free)

& enjoyed not being all of these parents

with little children.

young woman with red stockings.  (and a family portrait in the background.)

family portrait, part ii.

i've been going to Ninth Street for many years.

long ago, there was a shop

where you could make your own earrings.

i loved that place.

now we go for the Regulator & Chubby's Tacos.

rainy sky over Chubby's

so, maybe i shouldn't discount the map-making i did in Spain.  even if i would fold down different page corners in the guide book today.  it's easy, from a distance of decades, to point to the missed opportunities of youth....and forget the ones taken were broad & necessary coastlines for the increasingly detailed topography of one's life.