An American Thanksgiving / The Wheat Fields

In which I dine, thankfully, and reveal an odd new hobby. . . .

My husband and I went to visit my mother-in-law Lois at Homewood at Martinsburg for the day. They were having a fancy Thanksgiving lunch that featured ham and turkey, assorted sides, salads, rolls, coffee and tea, and pumpkin pie and cake. Lois had bought us tickets to the meal well in advance, and the weather was perfect for travel.

My main photo above shows my meal. Clockwise from top left, we've got candied yams and green bean casserole, ham, turkey, vegetable lasagna, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, with gravy over some of it, and with a tiny salad and rolls on the side. Everything I had was VERY good. A special favorite was the stuffing. My husband and I both had ham left over to take home, so I can see a ham and cheese omelet in our near future!

We had a lovely visit with Lois and told stories about our pasts, and remembered the loved ones who are not with us in body anymore, but who live on in our hearts and in Heaven. We are grateful for the time we had with them; we look forward to a reunion with them in the Next Place.

I'm also tossing in a photo of my weird new hobby. I took my walk in the morning, up Tow Hill, and visited the decorative grasses at the top. I like to run my hands through them and take pictures. I know; it's odd. It is a simple tactile pleasure, but very grounding somehow, to touch and look at something real that is pleasing to the hand and to the eye. I can't explain it. hope it's just a passing phase.

My theory is that if I post a photo of it, maybe I can stop with the decorative grasses already and move on to some strange new obsession. So in the extras, you may see a picture of my hand fondling a neighbor's decorative grasses, and pretending they are the wheat fields from the film Gladiator.

It's odd how movies are. The first time my husband and I saw the film Gladiator, we hated it. I almost gave our copy away. But then we watched it again, and loved it. I found special joy in the scenes of the main character running his hands through the wheat, and the music was lovely; especially in the final scenes. (Fans of the story The Little Prince will also recall that famous line "Because of the color of the wheat fields," which I always loved.)

Anyway, I looked up the story of the meaning of the wheat fields in Gladiator, and found a great tale. As it turns out, the scenes of wheat fondling were not originally IN the movie, but were a total accident when a Russell Crowe double took a smoke break and ran his fingers through the wheat while filming. Ridley Scott loved it, and built it into the film. The wheat field scenes represent the main character's eventual death, his happy reunion with his murdered family, and - finally - peace.

I hope that you had a happy Thanksgiving. I hope that you have many reasons to be grateful. I hope that you have things to look forward to each day, and that you get to spend time with the ones who are important to you. I hope that you are healthy and happy. I hope that you have occasional moments of joy. And above all of this, I wish you love.

I have two images for this day, and let's give them each their due. For the plate above, I've got Eric Carmen, with Hungry Eyes, from Dirty Dancing. For the image of my hand in the extras, pretending that I am Maximus Decimus Meridius, and with some fine decorative grasses playing the role of the wheat, I'm including a 27-second clip of a wheat field scene from Gladiator, as well as the final clip: Now We Are Free.