One of the blessings that I try to give thanks for every day is Lori, my wife. She brings many more gifts to our marriage than I, and her creativity is one bright example.
The arrangement in the photo above is a fine example of Lori's talent for taking common items and presenting them in an eye-catching manner that forces the fortunate observer to pause and appreciate the display.
The arrangement is one of several Lori assembled to prepare our home for Thanksgiving Day 2011. We had a simple observation this year. Our day involved Lori and I hosting my mother — just the three of us for a quiet day that included a late breakfast and our holiday meal. We ordered a meal from Enticing Cuisine, a Batavia caterer — one of our favorites. We selected a caterer because I didn't want Lori spending her holiday preparing an elaborate meal for three people.
We made the right choice. The meal was delicious, and we spent the afternoon in relaxed conversation. And while the meal was impressive and the conversation engaging, I found my attention drawn again and again to the arrangements Lori had set around the house, the cornucopia in particular.
It rekindled in me an appreciation for the simple qualities of life — the elements we frequently miss as we rush through each day. I grasped a sense of appreciation on my recent birthday, but it slipped away during the blur of days that raced by in October and November. I am blessed that I reconnected with this sense again on Thanksgiving, and I am grateful that it returned to me by way of an arrangement of squash and other symbols of the harvest season. One of many blessings I give thanks for at the end of my day.
My daughter and I celebrate our birthdays two days apart, and this year we mark each mark a milestone birthday — I marked my 50th birthday this year and Megan celebrated her Sweet 16 today.
That's us, above, at Soldier Field in Chicago, in September, when NIU played Wisconsin. It was a wonderful day, a lot of fun, even though Wisconsin really hammered NIU.
I have always considered it a true blessing that God shared a daughter with me, and I have always considered Megan a special angel. I bet most fathers would say something similar about their daughters.
Megan and I share a birthday week together, and over the years that has become an extra special bond for us. As I celebrated my 50th birthday, I realized that I had developed a profound appreciation for the simple details in life during the last year. I am sincerely grateful that God has blessed me with 50 years of life and pray that he will allow me to enjoy many more years here.
Megan hasn't told me yet what this 16th birthday has meant to her. She's had such fun this weekend that I wonder if she's had much opportunity to reflect on the event. I hope she is able to give some thought to it today, and I pray that in that moment she has feels a sense of how much she is loved.
Lori and I have resided in Batavia for almost eight years and in that time I have observed several local traditions that are as reliable as any store-bought calendar for determining the time of year in the Fox River Valley.
We celebrate Christmas in December and the start of the new year in January, just as people do everywhere. And we celebrate Independence Day on July 4th, pretty much in the same manner as Americans do throughout the country. These are traditions that are observed and passed along from one generation to the next.
When it comes to autumn, we have a few rituals that are common to ones observed across the country — pumpkins and related decorations are placed on front porches and in yards. Batavia residents have two special ways of noting when autumn has arrived.
The first is when the Albright Theatre Company announces its show dates for its annual production of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," and the second is when my neighbor, Helen Baynes, announces that it is time to pull her slow cooker from the pantry shelf and prepare some cool-weather dishes. Just by chance, both announcements were made today.
The Albright is community theater in its purest form. The theater is located on the third floor of the city's municipal center, and production values are kept to within very modest means. Yet, the actors who have appeared in the annual productions of Washington Irving's classic tale of the unfortunate Ichabod Crane manage to engage and entertain audiences of all ages.
This year's show will be the Albright's seventh production, meaning the theater company started this effort the year after Lori and I arrived in Batavia. In that short time, Albright's production of "Sleepy Hollow" has become a seasonal tradition for many area families, including mine, and is even a featured attraction during BatFest, Batavia's celebration of Halloween.
Lori and I will be sure attend a showing of this year's production.
Likewise, we'll do our best to partake in at least a few of Helen Baynes' recipes for meals from the slow cooker. One of our favorites features pork roast, potatoes and apple slices. Served up with some steaming vegetables and fresh-baked bread, the meal is a true autumn classic and one that I look forward to enjoying every October (and once or twice in November, too).
Neither one of these Batavia "traditions" enjoy the fame and following they deserve, but maybe that's what makes them so special to those of us who welcome them every autumn.
