Zan and I spent Thanksgiving this year with his family in the Outer Banks. His parents rented a house on the Sound for the week; Zan and I made it down Wednesday afternoon. Because of all the snow falling in the mountains this past week, it turned out to be the perfect year to have Thanksgiving at the beach-- despite the chilly temperatures! We've had a really lovely time: Wednesday afternoon, just after we arrived, fog obscured the view of land across the Sound, and it looked like we had landed in some kind of Ibsen play or perhaps one of the Russian authors, with grey water lapping outside the picture window, a fire roaring in the fireplace inside, candles lit around the room, and family members we only see once or twice a year reading books and making comments on life and the weather. I loved it. Once the sun set (though, we couldn't see it actually set due to the clouds), we played Disney Scene-It and ate supper, and I put off writing my thesis chunk.
Thursday, Zan and I headed off to the grocery store to find Brussels sprouts, tea, and a few other odds and ends. We returned in time for a light lunch of summer sausage, crackers, four kinds of cheese, hot pepper jelly, spinach dip, and cranberry salsa. The rest of the afternoon was spent walking to the beach, realizing the beach was very cold, returning home, and spending an hour in the hot tub. The hot tub feels like paradise. Hot tubs really are best in the cold. Perched on a hill, it overlooks the Sound and, since there were fewer clouds that evening, we saw all the colors of the sunset, even if we didn't actually see it disappear behind the thin strip of North Carolina visible on the horizon. Once the sun set, we finished up preparing our Thanksgiving feast, then all sat down to turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, Brussels sprouts, and more. Then we discovered how to work our Ms. Pac-Man Arcade Game console in the sunroom, and we've all been addicted to the 1980s game Space Invaders ever since. It's really quite addictive.
This morning we woke up a bit late to the sounds of someone downstairs playing Space Invaders. I made tea and Zan made coffee (like we do) and then took our turn playing some Space Invaders. I brought down my computer and books to work on my thesis chunk. I wrote a few sentences. I played some Space Invaders. I wrote a few more sentences. Then played some more Space Invaders. The day continued in this vein until lunch (more cheese, sausage, and crackers). Then I took my computer and books upstairs and wrote about two pages... though I don't know if they are good enough to keep. I'm really second-guessing myself here. Zan's aunt said just to get it all out, not to worry about what my adviser or my thesis-professor will think, just to write... but I keep thinking that it's not ordered well, or that I haven't clearly explained myself, or both. So, after two pages, I took a break and spent about another hour in the hot-tub; tonight we saw a perfect sunset. Then we came in and played Space Invaders before preparing leftovers for dinner.
Tomorrow bright and early we leave the beach. As I type I can hear the arcade music and laughter and cursing of people downstairs playing Space Invaders. I can't help but think that I'll forever associate these noises with Thanksgiving. I'll miss the sound.
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