George Washington Papers: Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation

I left work early yesterday so that I could get my car inspected. Massachusetts requires an inspection of all cars once a year or when the ownership changes. There is a basic safety inspection (lights, horn, etc.), but mostly it's an emissions check. My greenhouse gases were in good order. In years past, they'd jack the car up and check the tie rods. They'd also poke at the body to see if there were dangerous amounts of rust. One friend had patched his car with press plates from the local newspaper. You could read last month's news in reverse print on the fenders of his car.

I still get nervous during inspections, going back to my days of driving $250 cars. A friend called my Volkswagen a Rolls Canardly - it rolls down the hill and canardly make up the other side. Repairs were simple, though, usually requiring just a screwdriver, pliers, and the occasional hammer. One time, I was driving along and the engine caught fire. (Some oil had squirted out from the filler tube.) A few wires burned up before I could blow out the fire. I restarted the car and it ran fine. I never did find out what those wires did.

We've ordered cable television for my father for his 91st birthday next week. He'll be able to watch the Celtics games this winter; those games are only on cable.

My father worked construction. One day, it was so cold and windy that the bosses shut down the site and sent everyone home. My father arrived home and looked next door where his parents lived. My grandfather was on top of the roof, on top of a ladder, on top of a five-gallon bucket, swaying in the wind, trying to reconnect the TV antenna lead that had come loose. My father hollered, got my grandfather down, and went up there himself to finish the work. My grandfather was in his 70s at the time; my father would have been close to my age.

Earlier this spring, my father was having a problem with his sailboat. A cable had come slipped and the end had snapped up to the top of the mast. So, he gets on top of the boathouse, lassoes the top of the mast with a bit of rope, and tries to pull the mast close enough so he could reach the cable. He couldn't pull the mast (and boat) close enough. We arrived some time later, lowered the mast, retrieved the cable, and put things back in order.

Adam once observed, "It's a wonder that you're not any crazier than you are."

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We had a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat. My brother-in-law, Scott and his wife Val hosted a delightful dinner for 18 or so. I sat at the kids' table and had a great time. Scott worked as a chef for many years and is able to plan, prepare, and present wonderful meals.

On the ride home from the Cape, Sandra and her mother sat in the back seat and sang in lovely harmony. They sang rounds ("Scotland's Burning), hymns ("That Old Rugged Cross" and "We Gather Together"), and others ("O Canada").

Popular Science is out with its second annual survey of the worst jobs in science: http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/article/0,20967,713471,00.html.

It's a great comfort to look in the back yard and see all that new wood. Up close it smells good, too. We'll be warm this winter. I don't know how our wood guy makes a living at the prices he charges.

This should be a quiet week at work, with folks mentally checking out in advance of the holiday weekend.

Our niece, Rachael, is 26 today.

John Steinbeck observed that kids and dogs are the great ambassadors. When our boys were younger and involved in sports, it seemed as though we knew everyone in town. The same was true when we'd be walking our dogs around the neighborhood, particularly Bob and Raye, a pair of Springer spaniels. People would stop and talk with us; they'd pass us by if we were walking alone.

So, it was a surprise yesterday to find ourselves in places where we knew people. We just haven't been getting out much. We went to a local apple orchard to pick up a few things for the holidays and saw several people from our other home town. Last night we went to a musical production. A neighbor was a featured singer and had invited us. Imagine, Karl and Sandra out on a Saturday night. And we knew several people in the audience, although we had to coach each other on some of the names.

When we're at home on Sunday mornings, we get to enjoy a gospel music radio show on a local, 600 watt station, WCUW. The station was described by one reviewer as "quagmire of incompetence and apathy." Nevertheless, we've been listening to it for more than 20 years and the signal has gone silent just a few times.