Thanksgiving

Notice a slight chill in the air? That will be winter then. Now that I wear a shirt to work every day I have learned what vests are for: keeping you warm without messing up the hang of the shirt across your shoulders. Rachel is not impressed with the unsexiness of the garment, known here as a 'wife beater,' if deployed as outerwear. Of course, there is a feminine variant on the vest, called a 'cuddledud' - cute, n'est pas? Either way, useful items for the brisk, traditional hike to the nearest Starbucks on Thanksgiving morning. I'll take a grande non-fat decaf vanilla latte, please. By the time I've said it, they've made it.

Thanksgiving is the culinary blowout I expected it to be. My first scheduled day-off since I arrived here, we kicked back and played poker with the family, grazed on appetisers until the late afternoon feast: turkey, stuffing, potatoes (I insisted on roast, though the tradition is mashed), sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, miscellaneous additional vegetables; then apple pie (or pumpkin pie if you're doing it by the book). A widely publicised fact here, but one which I was unaware of in Lewes: turkey contains an amino acid called tryptophan which has a sedative effect. Whether or not there is any truth in this, what with Friday's inevitable turkey sandwich fest, I have not been at my most productive.

Yesterday we took a trip around the Eastern Willamette valley; rich farmland whose primary output consists of root vegetables, christmas trees and - you guessed it - wine. Stopped in a little German town called Mount Angel for some saurkraut and rootbeer. Took a short hike to Silver Falls where we walked through thick, moss-covered forest to duck behind an enormous waterfall. Stopped off at a couple of wineries on the way home... over thanksgiving weekend every little vineyard opens its doors to the public.



Need a bit of pepping-up through the winter season? You'll want some Ester-C in that case. Also available: Ester-E. They're Ebeneezer Goode.

In other news, Green Wall closed on Friday and the proceeds have (we hope) been wired to the company dealing with the purchase of our new home. We're due to move in on Thursday, all being well!