sit for an hour or two watching the sunset... none of these cars are going anywhere and we've figured there's an accident up ahead... it could only be that... and is... listen to the generic opera cd and watch the sun set behind tiers of clouds... where the rays shoot out this way and that burning or flaring strange moments... the music fits... watch her rush the kid over toward the field to pee... watch the suv and the ordinary car leapfrog in slow motion along the shoulder... as we all creep closer to the site... and release... we're in the dark when i get there... just a big silver tanker... nothing to see... on i-55 late november afternoon... just a bit north of odell...

when i get to mom's tracy says she was stuck there too... ahead of me... and she saw bad things... helicopters and... but here we are for thanksgiving... mom meg marytherese john tracy tony becca brennan delaney... a new face, tom... two toms now... then come korie and taylor... then the plumbing goes bad... and 10 p.m. the guy's digging a hole toward the septic line...

then i guess it's ok but touchy... meg handles all this like the pro she is... we watch finding nemo during all of this...

and in the morning we've got thanksgiving and mike and josh and robin are coming... but no they're not... car trouble can't get them here... and they're sorely missed...

[now i'm watching a football game... true... i never watch football... but now i'm watching it... 19-7... us... second quarter... so far]

and then just at dinner meg asks me to say the prayer... took me off guard... i needed a few seconds... stood there dumb... and then somebody starts the standard 'bless us o lord' and i just followed through on that... so i never got to say 'lord we thank you for every good thing and person in our lives... keep us mindful of and willing to help those who have much less than us... we thank you for the love you constantly pour into our lives in the form of mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles... nieces, nephews, cousins... and friends... especially friends... we thank you for those who have gone before us, who live with you now, who loved us into life long before we ever were... we thank you for unbridled good health and pretty good health and health on the mend... we thank you for this day... this food... all this good stuff to which we are not particularly entitled and which we receive with humble, grateful spirits... thank you, lord... amen'

o well... i never got to say that... sorry, mom...

we eat... and eat some more... and in between eating we watch finding nemo again... it's a very pretty movie and the character of dory... voiced by ellen degeneres... is richly nuanced and touching... we eat and some play frisbee

[now we're down by one... 20-19... near the top of the third quarter...]

so thursday night we're watching nemo again... just hanging...

then friday morning mom wakes up dizzy and meg gets ready for a trip to the doctor... but... meg's battery is dead...

[and now carmel high school has won its first ever state football championship... and i can't think of a nicer bunch to do it... i mean... these guys are not just really good football players... they are Really Good People... fine emissaries for the vast hordes of such who make up carmel... thank you, god, for kicking me into carmel...]

but i think mom's doing better now... and meg's got a new battery... talk about grace under pressure... meg murphy is my hero... no kidding... i want to be just like her when i grow up...

and... o yes... i took a few pictures... (pardon my nerve in posting these... if you have a problem just say so and i'll remove them...)

Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted.

Garrison Keillor

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