Oh, the Thanksgiving weekend was such a blast! It’s taken me weeks to get over it, so now is a good time to update my blog, and this time I won’t put any tomatoes in it, as someone requested today.
I was invited to spend Thanksgiving weekend with the Lettmans at their new home in Thief River Falls, and I was eager to get on the road with my shiny new car. (New in 2004, anyway.) The weather was perfect (no coat required, which is always a good thing in Minnesota) and Highway 2 winds its way through some interesting little towns that I hadn’t seen before.
There are some great road signs on this trip, too, and places I didn’t know we had: Savanna River and Swan Lake, for instance. In Minnesota? Who knew? I also liked Pin Cherry Road, Schoolcraft Park, Gosh Dam Place, the Big Fish Supper Club (attached to a really big fish!) and, in the land of casinos, an aptly named Sucker Bay. One I particularly liked was Lost River, and I tell you, it isn’t lost at all, but right there under that bridge.
I was listening to Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bookends” album on the trip, and “Hazy Shade of Winter” seemed especially appropriate, with that ending line, “Look around — there’s a patch of snow on the ground.” And so there was.
Where’s my friend Jean when I need her? Roadside animals aren’t nearly as much fun if she’s not there to be bitten by a lion, kicked by a stag or swallowed by a big fish. (Or lying in the grass to look up the tunic of the Jolly Green Giant, but that’s a whole other story.) But use your imagination!
Okay. So I didn’t practice cropping photos in my spare time. Sue me.
And hey: Thanks to the wonderful folks at Cass Lake who maintain a clean, well-lit and welcoming roadside rest area. (No photo necessary.)
Highway 59 winds around lots of wide open spaces before it brings you to the town of Thief River Falls, which seems to be a small town with lots going on. But my goal was to spend time with the Lettmans, and here they are:
Let me say they are not actually that formal at home. They’re a lot more casual, and I don’t think any of them actually sit still for that long, so I’m not sure how the photographer did it. But what a great picture. And here are the 3 kids, Henry, Mahalia and Lydia, who are silly and smart and thoughtful, and fun to be around. Mahalia (in the red sweater) gave up her girly-girl room for me while I was there, and I appreciated the cozy bed and the curtains with little jewels in them that looked like stars shining in the night sky. Lydia (in the red scarf) is now a very special young lady who spent much of her time drawing; a talent those kids no doubt inherited from their folks. Henry is a bundle of boyish energy (where do they GET that?) but a good break-dancer, too.
These beautiful Lettman photos were taken by Sara K. Callavin of Two Harbors, MN, who does some very nice work. Credit where credit is due.
As soon as I arrived, I learned we were heading out to a local animal shelter to pick out two nice cats for the family. I don’t think I even took my coat off! I wanted to be screeching down the driveway before Mr L changed his mind. (Of household pets he is not a fan.) It took a while to find two that seemed absolutely right, so we brought them home, after a stop along the way to buy litter, a litter box, toys, food, dishes and a brush. Even felines require some of life’s little necessities.
The cats didn’t “settle in” so much as one of them taking over the entire house like he’d always lived there, and the other immediately hiding behind the washing machine. Your yin and yang deal.
A nice surprise at dinner was the Badger Shrine, set up in the corner of the dining room, complete with candles and an offertory. I might have missed it, but I was happy to see it as I’m pretty sure that may be the only plaster cast of a badger in the entire state. (For those of you who refuse to shop at Salvation Army, this is what you’re missing.) I did leave an offering, though I’m not sure badgers like gum.
On Saturday we were off to East Grand Forks, ND, for a day of thrift shopping. What fun! I found some wonderful treasures, including books, clothes, old embroidered dish towels, Christmas decorations and other stuff too numerous to mention. What a blast to peruse junk in another state. (SO much different from junk in Minnesota.) Just kidding. Seemed odd to me that a big college town like that (home of UND) didn’t seem to have any bookstores, or at least none that I could see. No lack of fast food places, though. (Not a complaint. Just an observation.)
I left on Sunday, enjoying a leisurely drive back home through Bemidji and Grand Rapids, and stopped often to check out shops or walk around for a bit. What’s more fun than a road trip? Nothing.
Thanksgiving comes close, though. It’s like Christmas without the presents, and this year my sister Be fixed a fabulous dinner for all of us. I didn’t take a picture of the family together, but I did take a picture of the beautifully set table before we were seated.
My creative sister Steff made this vegetable turkey, which made me laugh. I couldn’t bear to eat any part of it. I hope she still has it. Maybe she could freeze it for next year.
Here’s a Thanksgiving picture of my great niece Gabriella with her mom and auntie Katie:
And here’s a picture of my other great-niece, Madison, who could not be sweeter:
So that was my wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, reminding me again how much I have to be thankful for: a wonderful family, wonderful friends, thrift shops and badger statues, and Minnesota roads to explore. I hope yours was just as happy!
