Well, Durn ... I'm Thankful ...

Taken from our small boat on Loch Lein, Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland

… said my Papa, W.C. Harp, when asked if he wanted to say grace before the last Thanksgiving meal I would ever share with him and my grandmother. That was the entirety of the thanks he offered, before beginning to eat. We didn’t generally say grace before meals, and I’m sure my grandmother’s somewhat anomalous, pro forma request caught him a bit off guard. Nevertheless, it is the “grace” I remember … simple, meaningful, and in essence, profound in the depth and breadth of meaning conveyed in those two words … a sweet coda to years of family Thanksgivings in my grandparents’ house.

Most of us are thankful, I hope, not only at Thanksgiving but all through the days and years, for some “universals“ … family, friends, our homes, health, the fact that life doesn’t “end” at high school (at least for most of us … ). But, as we approach another Thanksgiving and other end of year holidays, I want to share with you some "small moments" for which I am thankful, “grace notes” added as embellishment to the magnum opus of my life, across the trajectory of time. It may not surprise those who know me, or have read the blog, that many of my “grace notes” involve travel. I am hopeful that some of you will share your own small moments, of whatever type, those moments only incidental to the whole of your lives, yet cherished and returned to in memory, time after time, for a smile, or a laugh, a wry grin, or simply a fond reflection.

I am thankful that I very carefully and purposefully (and initially, with much dropped food) taught myself when I was nine years old to eat with chopsticks, because somehow I just knew in my soul that someday I would get to see Japan and China, and I didn’t want to be embarrassed by my inability (or lack of table manners) to use chopsticks when I got there. I have been complimented in those countries on how well I use them, so the effort was not wasted.

As much as I always knew that someday I would see Asian countries which have fascinated me from childhood (and still do), never in my wildest imaginings could I have conjured that one "enchanted" evening I would be sitting in the lounge of the Great Wall Sheraton in Beijing, China, sipping Irish coffee and listening to a Chinese string quartet play, lentissimo (very slowly), a familiar melody, which after careful listening, turned out to be “Turkey in the Straw.” Serendipity.

I was so thankful to spot a Shakey’s Pizza parlor (yes, Shakey’s, with all its quotidian drabness) on the Ginza in Tokyo, after the girls had become mutinous over eating nothing but Japanese food for the days we had been there. Of course, the pizzas on the buffet were topped with baby corn, shitake mushrooms, seaweed, octopus and other Japanese staples … but we did find one that had pepperoni, so the incipient crisis was averted.

I am thankful that when Yahn and I were in Venice, we arranged for a private gondola, with champagne included, to take us on the Grand Canal, under the Rialto Bridge, and then into smaller, more mysterious and romantic canals, as the sun was setting, and the songs of the gondoliers drifted on the air. Bellissimo! We still laugh about the couple that passed in their gondola, going the other way, and watching the woman crane her neck to look at us, and then hearing in shrill, nasal tones as the gondolas parted: “Milton, they have champagne, Mill-ton!” I suspect that Milton’s memory of his sunset gondola ride past that point is not nearly so wonderful as ours.

I am thankful that Yahn didn’t take the deal when he was offered five camels and multiple goats for me by a man who approached us as we walked through Khan el-Khalili bazaar in Cairo. Yahn said it was obvious that I was at least a seven-camel woman!!!

I am thankful that I was able to fulfill a dream (or at least a desire) to go whitewater rafting, on the Ayung River in Bali, for my 58th birthday. I was less thankful about having to walk 600 steps down to get to the raft, and then 600 steps back UP, to get back to Yahn. The hotel very kindly sent a massage therapist (gratis) to our room that evening … and yes, the experience was worth it!!!

I am thankful that we made our last trip to Paris over New Year, when the lights are at their loveliest and most profuse, and the excitement of that wonderful city is most electrifying. And it was pure loveliness, late that night, as we sipped champagne in our room and watched it begin to snow … huge, fat flakes of snow, falling in the streets of Paris, with the subdued lights on the side street glimmering a pale, soft yellow when we ran onto the balcony to see the wonder. Quelle romantique!!!!

I am thankful for the Christmas Eve we spent on the night train from Cairo to Luxor, much of it in the club car, with a large group of German and French tourists, with American oldies playing on tape, and the bartenders coming out to serve the ordered drinks somehow balanced on their heads on a wildly shaking and swerving train, pulling many of the travelers (including me) out of our chairs to engage in impromptu belly dancing, with those drinks balanced perfectly on their heads the whole time. I was not as thrilled with the dinner we were served in our sleeper, and think I may now know what happens to old camels when they are too decrepit to carry tourists for the obligatory photos at many sites.

I am thankful that I got to see the Pyramids at Giza, and Karnak Temple in Luxor, not only by daylight, but bathed in the silver light of a full, or nearly full, moon.

I am thankful that I got to see the Anne Frank House (and more specifically, the secret annex), where Anne and her family hid from the Nazis in Amsterdam before they were betrayed. I could see through the small window the chestnut tree that Anne saw as she wrote in her diary and dreamed of a world without war and hatred, before she died at Bergen-Belsen such an achingly short time before the camp was liberated. There was such a feeling of presence in that room, and I believe that it is the essence of Anne’s indomitable spirit which still pervades that place.

I am thankful that I once skied in Aspen, and Vail and other places, before my knees totally checked out, and I remember apres-ski in the lodges, with hot-buttered rum, and Irish coffee, and mulled wine, and huge fireplaces and music and laughter.

I am thankful that Franklin Martin magically appeared at Giuseppe’s in Colorado Springs at just the perfect time. (See “Close Encounters of the Bobcat Kind” further back on this blog.)

I am thankful to have seen the Acropolis in Athens by moonlight, and to have watched the sunset from our cruise ship in the caldera of the volcano at the beautiful Greek island of Santorini, and to have marveled at the "clothing optional" beaches on Mykonos and at Lindos (on Rhodes), and to have seen the ancient and colorful Minoan ruins on Crete.

I am thankful to have walked the ruins of Ephesus, and to have seen the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, and to have crossed from one continent to another (Europe/Asia) and back over the Bosporus.

I was sooo thankful in Ireland that Clarence Darter had taken so much time and patience with me, to teach the proper use of a clutch in a standard shift automobile. I had to figure out driving on the “wrong” side of the road, and stick-shifting with my left hand on my own. Lynn (Purcell Durham) and Yahn left the driving to me (the former hell-driver of the Childress Park lake), but I am sure they were uttering various prayers and incantations sotto voce the entire time.

I am thankful that Lynn went with us on that trip, where we ultimately “found” the Purcell castle in County Tipperary after our stays in Tralee, and Cashel, and “our” little cottage overlooking Bantry Bay in Glengarriff. The rental car was a challenge to drive, but it certainly facilitated our roaming all over the southwest of Ireland, dodging trucks and buses and other cars coming at us at breakneck speeds on the narrow Irish roads. We only blew three tires (two at once) as we desperately sought to hug the left side and had some close encounters of the large roadside rock kind. Fortunately we were smart (or prescient) enough to take full coverage on the car, so we didn’t have to pay for the tires, although I am sure Dan Dooley Car Rental began to rethink its package on “full coverage”.

I am thankful that when I was standing on the stage at Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity here in Las Vegas, with the MC Joey Arias and “Antonio the Gigolo”, and Antonio blurted out, “Why, Jen-ni-fer! You’re not wearing a bra!”, I had the presence of mind (and the lack of inhibition?) to answer into the microphone, “I burned it in the ‘60s!”, and brought down the house of about 1500 people. There were some other ad-libs I was proud of, but this is a family blog ….

There are more tales to share, of other adventures in other (and some of the same) places, but I sense your eyes beginning to glaze, if you have not already given up this rambling reminiscence. But I must also express thanks to our special teacher at CHS (you and we know who you are!), who helped me (and others of us) believe that wishes and dreams can and do come true, if we want them enough, and are willing to work to attain them.

Even though I usually enjoy preparing Thanksgiving dinner, whether or not our children and grandchildren are with us, I have rebelled this year, with dear Yahn’s acquiescence, and plan to celebrate the day by chowing down with him (just the two of us!) on the signature dishes at Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab in the Forum Shops at Caesars. I wish you all a glorious and meaningful Thanksgiving.

)O(