52 Weeks — #49
A few post-Thanksgiving thoughts as we move headfirst into the holiday season
I took the first photo in this edition of “52 Weeks” at church on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. The simplicity of the drawing caught my eye from the pew, and I couldn’t resist walking up to take a quick snapshot once the service ended.
Resistence, I’ve learned, usually is futile when I see something that conjures a memory, sparks curiosity, or tells a story.
Without over analyzing it too much, this image brought back memories of those childhood art activities you did at school and/or church. For me, those memories are not just nostalgic, but also a little anxiety provoking.
As I’ve written often, my father was a visual artist. Like many sons, as a child I wanted to be like him. But my obvious (to me and anyone within a 10,000-mile radius) lack of fine motor skills resulted in more smudges, spills, and stains than actual art.
But when I get past that and start to look at the image in a new way, I begin to appreciate the simplicity of what it expresses.
A child’s view of Thanksgiving. Gratitude for the blessings of family and good fortune that we have. The acknowledgment that we must do more to help others who are less fortunate.
This time of transition and uncertainty is anxiety producing for many. The worry of what can/could/will happen can feel overwhelming.
But then I see something like this, click the shutter, and develop my own vision of hope.
A Black Friday ‘trip’
My wife and I spent Thanksgiving with our children, two of their spouses, and our two grandchildren in Wintergreen, Virginia. It’s become a family tradition, one we’ve shared with Jill’s brother and his family, for the past five years. This gives the kids a chance to spend Christmas with the families of their spouses and significant others.
On Black Friday, our twins Emma and Ben left to go back to New York. We made plans to get together with the others later in the day, and Jill went to the gym while I went down the mountain to find some reading glasses. A lifetime of sitting in front of a computer, plus all of those years proofreading agate type, has left me with poor close range vision.
I brought only one pair with me to Wintergreen, and promptly lost them, which is how I found myself shopping at Target store in the middle of Trump country. It was, not surprisingly, an interesting outing.
Wintergreen, located about 45 minutes from Charlottesville, is in a traditionally conservative area on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A number of front yards on the roads leading up to the mountain are dotted with mailboxes and roadside Jesus signs. While I’ve never been the type of person who feels the need to wear my faith on a T-shirt or put it in front of my home for everyone to see, these folks do not have similar reservations.
On the drive down to Waynesboro, the closest town of any significance about 20 miles from Wintergreen, I saw yard sign after yard sign supporting the Trump/Vance ticket. Even though Virginia narrowly went blue in the presidential race, you wouldn’t know it if you went through the rural areas of the state.
What disturbed me were the number of signs with the phrase, “Take America Back.” That, if anything, strikes me as the opposite of faith.
Walking through the Target, I saw people with shopping carts loaded with Black Friday items. Passing a standup display for a book chronicling Taylor Swift’s Eras tour (dutifully proclaimed as a Target exclusive), I overheard a father telling his daughter he would not buy it for her because she’s “one of them.”
Other items — the Meta Quest 3S 128GB with Batman: Arkham Shadow, the Westinghouse 75-inch 4k UHD Roku TV, the Barbie 65th anniversary edition Fashionista Petite Golden Jumpsuit, and a variety of gaming devices — were flying off the shelves, purchased by folks who are quick to decry the cost of gasoline or a gallon of milk.
At the register with my new readers, laundry detergent, and kitchen trash bags, the person who checked me out said, “You’re the most normal customer I’ve had all day.”
I took it as a compliment.
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy this edition of “52 Weeks.” For only the second time this year, all of the photos are from 2024.
Reach for the sky is lovely!
I always appreciate your artwork, but there are some real stunners in here. The dog walker by the mountain sunrise… WOW