We came back today from a sweet one-day Thanksgiving foray to one of our favorite places, an old inn In Vermont where we spent our honeymoon and where Daniel Webster, Rudyard Kipling, Ulysses S. Grant and Ralph Waldo Emerson stayed. It is a safe and restful place for us, even though we usually stay only for one night.
We had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner – filet of sole stuffed with crab meat and fingerlings, and a slice of Pecan pie (Maria had pumpkin pie). I foolish drank way too much Scotch for a heart patient and a diabetic and paid for it. But I would do it again.
In this beautiful old inn, we can’t work, which is relaxing. I stay off of devices, avoid the news, can’t blog. We talk and read and walk. I can take photos. I brought the black and white monochrome, and the first thing I saw was this beautiful Victorian Mercury Mirror.
I like this shot of Maria, and behind her, taken as we headed out for a walk. I am adjusting to the new reality of my heart, some of the heart muscles are not getting enough oxygen-rich blood if I strain myself or walk up hill, this is the first time in my life I have not felt able to walk where I wanted for as long as I wished.
I am on some new medication that is supposed to help, and I carry those tiny Nitro pills if the pain gets bad, treatment for a stable Angina. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it doesn’t.
The good news was that we walked a lot, last night and this morning, and except for one short stretch, I was fine. We’ll see how the new medication works, I’m paying attention to it, but am optimistic. I’m like those guys in the movies with their heart pills. The odd thing about this angina is it comes and goes very quickly. But you know when it is there. I’m working at coming to terms with it.
On the way home, we stopped in Manchester, Vt. at this wonderful hot dog stand to get some freshly-cooked turkey dogs, this stand is one of our favorite eating places hosted by this wonderful woman who stands near the outlets all year except for the winter, when she closes down and skies until Spring. She is one of the nicest and most cheerful people I know.
I have so much respect for grateful people who fight to do what they live, and live how they wish to live. We are a secret society, I think, we recognize one another on sight.
And speaking of the movies, tonight we are going to see “Fantastic Beasts,” the new J.K. Rowling movie, and Sunday, “Moonlight,” the most praised movie of the year. I’m reading John LeCarre’s new memoir The Pigeon Tunnel and like it. He is every bit as interesting as one of his fictional characters (maybe not quite as interesting as Smiley).
No class this weekend, tomorrow night, we are celebrating Ed Gulley’s birthday at a nearby restaurant. Ed is ancient, I think, I imagine he was born grumpy and opinionated.