Bill's Blog

Thanksgiving 2007

The Table is Set for the Feast

Betty’s Thanksgiving Masterpiece

Enjoying the Evening

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday this year. Betty and Birgitta spent several days planning and preparing for the great feast. And what a feast it was. The center piece was a beautiful free-range turkey stuffed with Betty’s wonderful sage dressing. The gravy and mashed potatoes were so tasty. We had yams and a medley of winter roots. The deserts were traditional pumpkin pie and a cherry pie. There were fresh baked rolls on every plate.

We had a houseful of people. Dain and Marleta came from Santa Monica. My niece, Aricka, came with her three children: Athena, Ebin and Eva. Athena is 21 years old; Ebin is 10; and Ava was born in July. Birgitta and Seth were here, too. Birgitta was good to go until dinner, but she tired quickly after eating. Her baby was overdue.

We had a great evening. We talked on and on. It was really nice to have Aricka over. It was the first time we had all her children over together. I had never really talked to Athena before. It was nice to get to know her. She is a premed student at the U in Duluth and will graduate this next year. Ebin liked being over, but he didn’t like chatting it up. He tried playing the piano. Then he found a computer game that interested him. Then he was gone for the evening. Little Eva was loved by everyone. I discovered that Marleta loves to hold and rock babies. We opened several great bottles of red wine throughout the evening.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Betty made the day very special this year. Because of her effort we had a wonderful time and truly enjoyed the day.

Stairway in Greensboro

After a month in Mississippi, I flew to Greensboro.
My sister Dawn and her partner Mitzi have lived in Greensboro for almost 20 years. They live in an older home. The bedrooms are on the second floor. This would not have been a problem, save for the fact that the steps were designed for little people. The risers were low and the treads very short; so short that only apart of her shoe could make contact with the tread. There were thirteen little steps.

Dawn has MS. For several years, she would stop at the top of her stairs, look down, and feared that she might fall on her way down. I knew that I could help chase away the apprehensions and bring a bit of joy to her life by rebuilding the stairway.

I removed the old stairs. I built side panels to integrate the steps with the existing walls and handrail. I cut new stair-stringers that had eleven steps. Removing two steps made it possible for Dawn’s entire shoe to grab the tread. I installed some beautiful treads.

The final step was to install a new, second handrail. The original handrail only went halfway up the staircase, stopping as it reached he first floor ceiling. The second handrail goes to the second-floor landing. With this finishing touch I had finished my goal.

I really enjoyed my visit to Greensboro. It is a lovely city with comfortable neighborhoods and pleasant people.