Sharing Thanksgiving

We did it - we had Thanksgiving on the day, and we both took Friday off too, so we've had a typical overfed long holiday weekend and it's been great. We invited several friends over for dinner on Thursday so they could taste the traditional turkey and trimmings and Gerald's bird was very well received - one Polish guest was fascinated that he cooked the whole bird and asked for instructions. I was able to find classic Ocean Spray canned (whole berry) cranberry sauce and Libby's pumpkin too, so the tastes were authentic. Gerald said my crab-apple sauce went great with the meat too. I harvested from trees in our yard a few months ago and cooked them whole, mashed & strained them into sauce and added a lot of sugar as it's very tart; it's bright red naturally so adds a nice touch of color to a plate. He said I 'out-Finned the Finns on that one' by foraging something right in the middle of town. Gerald also shared his sugar cream pies, and our American friend Angela did a green bean casserole, and her sweet potatoes with marshmallows dish raised not a little suspicion, as did a pie made from a pumpkin. But everyone was adventurous and very appreciative of our sharing this holiday cuisine with them. We had a house-full, and the apartment kitchen got buried in dishes, with people underfoot as we were setting the food out, just like home! I made cream of turkey soup yesterday, and have more stock for another day, and it looks like we'll have turkey and stuffing for dinner again tonight with the last spoonfuls of cranberry sauce.

We did not completely hibernate though after our big feast - we went to the big Picasso exhibit Friday - a comprehensive show from the Picasso museum in Paris, so we've had our taste of culture too. But staying awake is certainly a challenge now in this darkest time of year. We're at 6.5 hours of daylight now, but also in the midst of weeks of rain so that adds to the light deprivation quite a bit. Sunrise: 8:52am and sunset 3:24pm and we're still not used to evening beginning mid-afternoon. But today is also the first day that most Christmas decorations will be hung, so that should brighten things up. It's time for the excellent Christmas markets now too and, may I ask, where did 2009 go??

Our last first snowfall

We woke to a white world this morning and it's still snowing now, steady but no blizzard. The seasonal shift is on with the hunger/fatigue/what time is it?? confusion but we are more aware of it this year, and maybe it's tinged with nostalgia as this may be our last true winter onset. Next year at this time... that's a saying we are now using a lot to adapt, as we look toward a move to the southwestern desert zone next summer. But we are also taking our vitamin D!

I currently am having some problems loading pictures from my camera so I'll share some BIG news instead. Did you notice the story of the world's largest cruise ship recently built here in Turku, Finland? It set sail last week, with a stop in England and then on to Miami. Having been on the ferry to Stockholm, which we all thought was huge, I cannot fathom the size of this vessel. The Swedes and Danes had a fun night watching as it passed under their bridge with a 2-foot clearance! That's after they lowered the telescoping smokestacks. Here's a bit from the AP:

KORSOER, Denmark — The world's largest cruise ship cleared a crucial obstacle Sunday, lowering its smokestacks to squeeze under a bridge in Denmark. The Oasis of the Seas — which rises about 20 stories high — passed below the Great Belt Fixed Link with a slim margin as it left the Baltic Sea on its maiden voyage to Florida. Bridge operators said that even after lowering its telescopic smokestacks the giant ship had less than a 2-foot (half-meter) gap. Hundreds of people gathered on beaches at both ends of the bridge, waiting for hours to watch the brightly lit behemoth sail by shortly after midnight (2300GMT; 7 p.m. EDT). "It was fantastic to see it glide under the bridge. Boy, it was big," said Kurt Hal, 56. Company officials are banking that its novelty will help guarantee its success. Five times larger than the Titanic, the $1.5 billion ship has seven neighborhoods, an ice rink, a small golf course and a 750-seat outdoor amphitheater. It has 2,700 cabins and can accommodate 6,300 passengers and 2,100 crew members. Accommodations include loft cabins, with floor-to-ceiling windows, and 1,600-square-foot (487-meter) luxury suites with balconies overlooking the sea or promenades. The liner also has four swimming pools, volleyball and basketball courts, and a youth zone with theme parks and nurseries for children.

There's some realtime video of the voyage at the ship's website www.oasisoftheseas.com if you are interested. And of course the quintessential Finnish quote:

Aboard the Oasis of the Seas, project manager Toivo Ilvonen of STX Finland confirmed that the ship had passed under the bridge without any incidents. "Nothing fell off," he said.

Masters of understatement that they are - a quality I find too rare these days.





So happy winter everyone! I'll return to readying the den for hibernation now, but hope to be able to post some of our own pictures again soon, or maybe some small news from Finland.