Here it is the first day of the last month of 2008. As it is with ever year of the current millennium it has flown by. November was filled with highs and lows. We elected a new president, one I am thrilled to have take office January 20th (do we really have to wait that long?!?).
Craig and I celebrated the next evening by having a great dinner out at Le Pigeon, the creators of my most favorite dessert ever (cornbread with ice cream syrup and hot fresh bacon bits), with good friends we keep meaning to make plans with. The food, the company and the celebratory feeling made it one of the best nights in recent memory.
That week-end my father, cousins and aunts came to town for my aunt Martha’s memorial. It was great to spend time with them all, and a special thanks to my neighbor Don for playing guitar at her memorial service. That said, when he and Pastor Sue played “Why Me, Lord?” I lost it.
The next week I headed off to a work site visit in St. Clair County, IL. I arrived at the hotel and learned that my uncle Johnny had passed away. He’d been fighting cancer, but the news was still unexpected. It made my planned stop-over in Little Rock for the week-end even more appealing. I arrived while my grandmother’s maple tree was at the height of its color. Pictures do not do it justice, but here are a few regardless.
It was also the 4th Anniversary (read: free admission) at the Clinton Presidential Library. We took a family trip out there, though our first stop was the Flying Fish for some delicious catfish. I managed to get a candid shot of my grandmother mid-gasp:
All in all, a great trip.
The next week I headed to Corbin/Williamsburg, Kentucky for work on another site visit. I’ve spent more time in Kentucky than any other site we work with besides Portland, and I love it there. There is so much creativity and compassion. This time there were also real tourist destinations, so after the site visit we went to Cumberland Falls:
And on the way back to Lexington we stopped at the original Kentucky Fried Chicken, where the colonel crafted his secret recipe. I even got my picture taken with the life-sized statue already posing on a bench:
The following Saturday Craig and I had the first of two great date nights seeing live music. We first stopped at my colleague Mac’s 50th birthday party celebration, which was lots of fun. Then we headed on to Cassidy’s to meet up with the crew that would be heading to the Crystal for the Drive by Truckers/Hold Steady show. I have lots of pictures from the night, but I’ll just share one of the Hold Steady and one of my clock photos with Patterson Hood of DBT.
When we got to the Crystal Ballroom our friends all headed to the bar area, but Craig and I stayed in the all ages side and made our way to the front. It was a fantastic show. Both bands genuinely enjoyed performing and both were better live than recorded.
Not even a week later we saw a fantastic show at the Doug Fir thanks to Yonna’s encouragement. I wish I could recall the name of the opening act, but suffice to say when we got there no one was standing on the floor and by the time he was done half the crowd had waltzed. Then Tom Heinl of Eugene played a super fun set. Finally, Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs, sent us out on a high note.
For Thanksgiving Craig made a video of us rocking out to Superconductor’s “Bush Pilot”. You can find it on his humanclock channel of youtube.
Saturday we spent the night at our friend Matt’s place in Husum, WA. It was a quick trip, but lots of fun. His house is in a postcard perfect setting. And that’s how I got to December.