2 posts tagged “boone nc”
Occasionally we do the right thing. Not often, mind you, but occasionally. However, last week I took the opportunity to do just the right thing in flying south to orchestrate (with much help) a party for my mother's 90th birthday.
A quick glance at my mother's medical history, coupled with the fact that she's reached 90 would lead most actuaries to abandon their life expectancy tables and resort to divining chicken entrails. A big factor in her continued presence on the "good side of the grass" can be linked to her wonderful support network, many of whom can be seen in the party photo below.
Best of health to her friends and church group, who've made occasions like last week's possible!
Despite the lack of snow, it's certainly Christmas here in Western North Carolina. Every year for the past 5 years, Amanda and I have made the (16 hour plus) pilgrimage to Boone, NC, home to my parents and their friends of many years.
The C-day custom here is to show up with food in hand at the First Baptist Church, put on the apron or nametag, and help serve meals to "anyone who comes," which includes not only members of the church, but travellers, those who (in the words of James Ellroy) are living the "outdoor life," and anyone who simply wants to eat their holiday meal in the company of others. Over 150 shut-ins who can provide an address for the "meals on wheels" surrogates who volunteer to transport dinner up in to the "hollers" or similarly hard-to-reach places have a great holiday meal courtesy of the church.
For Amanda, it is the "day of congeals," her reference to the southern preference for food suspended in Jello. We don't see much of this in Beantown, or for that matter anywhere in New England. It's a southern thing . . . just like the way that meat is just as often a "side" with other meats for the main course.
After recovery from the noontime food coma, we're back at it, with Amanda and my mother in the kitchen getting the leftovers ready for the evening meal.
It's been a great visit.
