Fat Thursday (if you like that kind of grub...)

Oxbear out the kitchen door in a light crust of ice on the cars to sing English and Chinese in the church choir… as I scramble eggs and Yali and Patience frantically attempt to escort a stinkbug back into the outdoors until… the dog eats it… Yali draws a sad face with his finger in the frost on the glass door as tribute
“Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” while Oxbear’s gone… avoiding crowds for Patience with big-time competition in three days… and the kids highlighting wishlists while remembering sponsor children in Central America and Indonesia… “balance”
Puck walks out after awhile to discuss logistics and plans… “Thanksgiving is the worst holiday,” he says. “There’s nothing to do and the food isn’t good and all the leaves have fallen off the trees already… except there’s still some red ones left.” (can’t argue that much…)
Oxbear returns from church to tinker and tinker with 3D printer models on his computer (including a Stonehenge for Mama) before he brings Yali out to St. Peters to see the first wave of cousins

Throw together plates of mac ‘n cheese, crescent rolls, sweet potatoes, and cucumbers for Puck and Patience (because turkey is not much appreciated between them) while introducing Patience to “Little Women”… with her seventy-six accompanying questions…
Layer mixed greens, mandarin oranges, pomegranate arils, feta cheese, and pecans in pans for a quick Thanksgiving salad contribution (balsamic on the side) before the boys return
Puck and Patience remain home while Oxbear, Yali, and I visit Florissant and about twenty others for the big spread and conversation including topics such as : Australia going all Prohibition on social media due to mental health concerns (missing the root // false correlation), the world isn’t “getting worse” (we just hear more about it now), the eighty-year-old Hiroshima/Nagasaki debate, etc., over dishes including D’s green bean casserole and S’s handmade tiny chocolate tarts… plates sent home for Puck and Patience… and lots of cousin time, including a fort built by Oxbear and Yali from folding chairs, blankets, and Oxbear’s sweater

Reunited at home where Oxbear begins painting my little Stonehenge before driving back out to St. Peters, this time to see I and K in from Chicago