Thanks Giving

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. Ours here in the Ellett household was low key but enjoyable. Perhaps the fact that we didn’t go to extremes made the holiday better. It certainly gave all of us more time and space for reflection.

Our Thanksgiving celebration began on Wednesday night with attendance at the Hingham/Hull Interfaith Thanksgiving Service at the Old Ship Church. A unique 17^th century survival, Old Ship began as Hingham’s Puritan meeting house. It's wooden architecture is unique and beautiful in a simple and understated way. It is worth a visit though it is not always open to casual visitors. Maura and Jennifer have attended the Interfaith Thanksgiving Service before but I was happy to finally be able to join them this year. I needed the reminder of how much I have to be thankful for.

On the day itself we feasted at home. Jennifer made the traditional turkey with untraditional side dishes. Stuffed pumpkins have appeared on our Thanksgiving table two years in a row and are well on their way to becoming a family tradition. We had a small gathering. It was just the three of us and our friends the Tittlers, who are as close as family. Thanksgiving dinner at home without a crowd of near strangers was very relaxing. There was plenty of opportunity to talk and many chances to reflect on the meaning of the day, though we did not stop to do so formally.

When I do pause to reflect, whether on Thanksgiving or on any other day, I find that I have many things to be thankful for. I have the love and affection of my family and friends, and the encouragement and inspiration that they give me. I have the opportunity to love and encourage them in return. I have the freedom to think and believe for myself and the right to express my thoughts if I choose. I have material things to more than meet my needs—I have no fear of being hungry, naked or cold. When I think about the people who don’t have what I do—a loving family, a roof over my head, enough food to eat—I am thankful for one other thing, that I have the ability to help others.  When I do what I can to help other people it is an expression of gratitude, both to the God I sincerely believe in and to the people who have helped me.

This year the group of friends that we spend our Sunday evenings with has decided not to exchange holiday gifts. We’ll be gathering together to help others instead. We’ll take the money we would have spent on gifts to each other and make a group donation to the Greater Boston Food Bank. It may become a new tradition.

Veterans’ Day Trip to Boston

On Veterans’ Day Maura had the day off from school and Jennifer took a day off from work so we made a trip into Boston for the day. Our destination in the city was the West End Museum a small museum dedicated to documenting the old West End neighborhood of Boston and preserving its heritage. I had wanted to go for several months, ever since I had noticed the sign for it on a previous trip into the city. I thought it would be good for Maura to learn about the West End. We haven’t been able to determine for certain but it’s quite possible some of her ancestors might have lived there before moving to less central parts of Boston.

The West End Museum is small but fascinating. It gives a glance into memories lovingly preserved of a place where people were happy to live. It was once a multi-ethnic immigrant neighborhood where people from many places got their start in America. The museum also holds up an example of bad government—the urban renewal projects of the 1950s that destroyed the neighborhood and displaced its residents. The result might have been higher property values but not a more vibrant city. At least lessons have been learned. Redevelopment in Boston no longer includes the demolition of entire neighborhoods.

Our trip to the museum was enhanced by our host, an older gentleman who lived in the West End in its last days and shared his memories of it with us. He gave us a personal guided tour of the museum. It isn’t often that we get such a personal glimpse of the past, even when the past is still within living memory. We gave what we could to the museum when we left—the museum does not charge for admission but it does accept donations. I wish we could have given more.

After our visit to the museum we spent some time in today’s Boston. We walked from the West End to Chinatown where we planned to have lunch. On the way we passed Boston’s Veteran’s Day parade. It was good to see the city honoring those who have served. The highlight of the parade was the Boston Police Gaelic Column, a pipe and drum band that plays on ceremonial occasions. It is one of Boston’s traditions and the sound seemed to bring us into the life of the city as it passed.

After the parade we made our way into Chinatown where we had lunch at Pho Pasteur. We enjoyed our spring rolls and pho, the Vietnamese soup that is the restaurant’s specialty. It was perfect for a chilly November day.

Concert at Sanctuary Hall

Last Saturday the Ellett family attended the Jake Armerding Trio concert at the East Weymouth Congregational Church where the sanctuary had temporarily become a music hall. We were fortunate to get tickets at half price by purchasing them last week at the church fair but we saw a great show that would have been worth every penny of the full fifteen dollar ticket price.

The Jake Armerding Trio consists of Jake Armerding on guitar, fiddle and vocals; father Taylor Armerding on mandolin and vocals; and brother Jesse Armerding on drums. They played an eclectic mix of folk, bluegrass, gospel and rock-and-roll with a hint of jazz thrown in. Most of the songs were originals with the exception of the encores. The final encore was a fantastic cover of Paul Simon’s “Graceland” that raised the roof. All the songs were played with honesty and feeling. The up-tempo tunes had a great deal of energy. It was clear that the musicians enjoyed playing as much as I enjoyed hearing them.

I’m sorry to say that Maura didn’t seem to enjoy the music quite as much as I did. She seemed half asleep during most of the performance. She did wake up during Jesse Armerding’s drum solos which held her spellbound. Once or twice during the show she started whining. I admit that I wasn’t paying enough attention to her to get what she was whining about. In Maura’s defense the show was late for her and she was tired. I don’t think she got quite enough sleep the night before. Perhaps the homebaked goodies she had during the intermission improved her mood. She didn't whine during the second half of the show. When we asked her if she enjoyed the show afterwards she said she did.

Several times during the performance Jake Armerding commented on the great sound in the East Weymouth Congregational Church sanctuary. Musicians enjoy playing there because it has wonderful acoustics and makes them sound their best. The sanctuary can hold about 300 people in the pews and there are no bad seats. If you live on the South Shore, or not too far away in other parts of the Boston Metropolitan Area I recommend you come and hear it for yourself. Jake Armerding was the first event in the Music at Sanctuary Hall series at the church. Information on upcoming events can be found at http://www.eweyucc.org/specialevents.html.

My Helper Maura

Last weekend was a stressful and busy weekend for me. My activities centered on my church, East Weymouth Congregational. Saturday was our annual Christmas fair. The fair features a craft tables, raffles, a silent auction, home baked goodies and a snack bar featuring my own famous chili. It’s my mom’s recipe and I’m going to teach Maura how to make it soon, passing it down to a third generation of the family. As a member of the Stewardship Committee I helped plan the fair and, barring serious injury or death, I had to be there. My job was selling raffle tickets.

Friday was set up day, though I’ll admit there was little to do. The heavy work had already been done on Thursday night and no one had let me know so I wasn’t there to help. There were a few little things that still needed doing. I helped label the raffle cans and collected the gift certificates we were offering as prizes to hold until the morning. I’d brought Maura along because it was Friday afternoon after school and I had no place else to leave her. She enthusiastically helped with the decoration, helping to stick paper gingerbread men and holly leaves about to give the hall a festive look. Maura did more work on Friday than I did.

I know I can always count on Maura to work hard at a task if she is enjoying it. Given a chance to help decorate or set up for a fun event she’ll pitch right in and work with a smile. It’s not always that easy to get her to help out at home or do chores that have less appeal. She’s long been responsible for putting away her things in her room and in her corner of the living room and recently we’ve given her a few more chores. It usually takes a few reminders and occasionally a threat to withhold her allowance before she’ll do them. I’ll admit we haven’t given her pleasant things to do. She empties the dishwasher, which must seem like busy work, and cleans out the cat boxes. No one enjoys doing that. She’ll avoid both jobs unless pressed.

I can’t blame Maura too much for shirking on her chores. I’m not very good at remembering to do some of mine either, and for the same reasons. The dish washer get loaded and run, unless I’m very busy, and I get dinner made most days (once and a while I leave it for Jennifer). It can be weeks before I get around to mowing the lawn; I don’t need much of an excuse to put it off. Maura, I’m afraid, takes after me.

Maura’s First Competition

Last Saturday Maura competed in her first ever ice skating competition. She skated in the Halloween Classic at the Rockland Ice Rink, where she takes her lessons. It was fun for her to compete first on home ice where she had been working on her program all summer and fall.

Maura and her mother had been busy getting ready during the week before the competition, getting the things she would need and making sure they were all in her skating bag and ready to go. My parents came for a quick visit so they could see Maura skate. They were in the stands with Jennifer and I watching. Family friend Rheannon Swire and her dad completed Maura’s cheering section. Rhe is an accomplished skater and one of Maura’s idols. Having her in the audience was almost as special to Maura as having her grandparents come to see her.

We got to the rink early to make sure Maura had plenty of time. It was good to watch the more advanced skaters who skated before Maura. We could see what Maura will be doing in a few years. Next time we won’t arrive so early. It is easy to forget how cold it is in the rink and we were all freezing by the time Maura was ready to skate, including Maura. She wasn’t nervous though, until right before she went on.

Maura didn’t win. In fact, she came in third in a field of three. Nevertheless she did very well for her first time out. She completed her program without falling and almost on time. She will skate in competition again and next time I expect she will do even better. She learned a bit about what the judges look for and she is inspired to work a little harder, on and off the ice, so she will improve. We’re planning to enter her in one competition a month during the winter, but the first one won’t be until January. She can use the extra time to get some practice.

After Maura skated her grandfather and I gave her a big bouquet of flowers. She had a big smile on her face as she waited for the scores to be posted. I hope she continues to enjoy skating competitions as much as she enjoyed her first one, even as she takes them more seriously. I’d like to see her win someday but the important thing is that she always does her best and makes the effort to get better. That is what the competition is really about.