Well, somehow, someway I just haven’t gotten around to posting photos from our Thanksgiving trip to Marfa, Texas. It was, as always, a beautiful break from reality. Not just a change of locale, but a slowing down of time that is one part location—days really are longer at that latitude—and two parts attitude; we call it marfa-time.
Also of note, I marked another milestone while in Marfa: my birthday. Fifty three freaking years old y’all.
Posted in Milestones, Not about cancer!
Tagged living with lung cancer, Marfa Texas, Thanksgiving in Marfa
No, not about the biopsy. In fact, cancer is but a footnote in the events I’ve yet to describe. First, Thanksgiving in Marfa, Texas. Yep ya’ll, we hauled ass to Texas for yet another annual Thanksgiving bash. David, Peter and I were joined several days later by Jemesii and her two chihuahuas, Kala and Fig. And then on Wednesday, our son August, my sister Bink and her husband Greg and one of their two daughters, Zola (we missed you Mesa!) made the long drive south from Colorado. They were followed by my brother John and his fiancee Amanda and her chihuahua Max (the perfect gentleman).
That night we all enjoyed bowls of John’s famous chile with corn bread on the side; a meal that has now become a Marfa Thanksgiving tradition. And those who could, had the first of several Marfa margaritas.
David had already begun babying a Madeira ham and early Thursday morning he put the bird in the oven as well. Midway through the day we sat down to an amazing feast: Ham, turkey (free range, small of breast but big on flavor), mashed potatoes and the best gravy ever, biscuits, greenbeans, wild rice, stuffing, carrot and turnip and homemade cranberry sauce. Locally made apple, pumpkin and pecan pie for dessert.
Of course, before actually digging in we paused to give thanks; for each other, the lovely food in front of us, the fact that we all had a home. We made a toast to our father Ollie Olson, who passed away from pancreatic cancer seven years earlier, on Thanksgiving day. And we thought of all our other family members who were celebrating Thanksgiving in their own way.
I do, of course, have an album to share as well as some more particulars. But first, a lovely group portrait taken with Greg’s camera. However, sister Bink actually snapped the shutter, so I guess this one is hers:
David, Linnea, Amanda, John, Greg, Zola, August, Peter and Jemesii
Marfa Time! It is Peter’s spring break and we’ve decamped to Texas, where temperatures have been in the high nineties and rain is a distant memory. First, some chores: mopping floors and wiping down dust. Then, a reward for all our hard work; a splendid meal out at Cochineal. It is definitely the celebrity hotspot in town, and we noticed Feist, who was performing the following evening at the Crowley Theatre. Sadly, it was a sold out show and the Duffs were not in attendance.
Day two we really settled in. David changed the battery in his old Chevy truck, Pete got a buzz cut, and I took down and washed all the curtains. I finally entered vacation mode and have been riding my bike around town taking photos; Â the first installment is above.
life and breath: outliving lung cancer 