Caption this photo (#23)

Who wants to take a crack at captioning this one?

Talking Turkey

It's funny to think about the things that end up as traditions. I seriously doubt the Pilgrims put little marshmallows on top of their yams but a Thanksgiving table today hardly seems right without them, right? They flavor our memories, along with green bean casserole, pumpkin pie and the never ending argument about which is better -- cornbread dressing or breadcrumb stuffing. And at our house, no Thanksgiving would be complete without hand-shaped turkey cookies.

In fact, making and decorating sugar cookies spans all holidays around here. It started when my four year old daughter was 18 months old and a TV commercial for Pilsbury Christmas cookies caught her attention. She giggled, clapped and squealed at the display of multicolored treats ... then sobbed when the commercial ended. The next day we made a big batch of cookies with drippy globs of toddler-applied frosting. It was so much fun we made more cookies on New Years Eve, too. (Those candy sprinkles look a lot like confetti.) Valentine's Day sent us out to buy heart shaped cookie cutters. Easter? Of course, we had to have bunny cookies. There have been St. Patrick's Day clovers and Fourth of July flags and Halloween pumpkins. We even tried to make little worlds for Earth Day but they ended up looking more like paint splattered balls. Hey, the technique worked for Jackson Pollack! Maybe he decorated sugar cookies with his mom, too.

May you enjoy a Thanksgiving filled with traditions that comfort, amuse, enliven and inspire -- and by all means, feel free to add your own. This year my daughter decided that in addition to the gaggle of turkey cookies we should make a peacock. (It's the one on the lower left of the picture.) You know, I'll bet when those Pilgrims started cooking that first Thanksgiving someone probably said, "Here's an idea ... let's put marshmallows on the yams!"

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Night Rider

This old muscle car looked cool the other night as it lurked in the shadows of an otherwise empty lot. I've already come up with some fanciful scenarios about why it was there (a stakeout, a shady deal, a secret tryst) but does anyone else want to chime in?

Musing

I'm extremely fond of this image. I took it a few months ago at the South Pasadena ArtsFest and I've probably pulled it up on the computer at least a hundred times since then. I never seem to be able to write about exactly why I like it so much or what I think it means. Today, however, I stumbled upon a wonderful poem called Barter, by Sara Teasdale. These lines perfectly explain things:

Life has loveliness to sell,
All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fire that sways and sings,
And childrens's faces looking up
Holding wonder in a cup.

Portal

Maybe it's just a 1920s river rock porch but I think this spooky entryway is a portal to another dimension. (But where?)

Unseated

That must have been quite a game of musical chairs.

Caption this photo (#22)

I need help with this one...