A reflection on family

With the holidays behind us and the cold winter days ahead, it seems like a good time to look back and remember highlights of time spent with family:

Thirty-four people to feed is a large task.

The two youngest children, ages 4 and5, apparently enjoyed feeding the dogs, and, at the last count, went through three cans of Ol' Roy Beef Jerky Strips at $4.95 a can. It was no wonder the dogs were excited when they saw them coming to the pen.

One of the major activities after the Thanksgiving dinner was a touch football game in the front yard involving participants from four to forty-one and a makeshift gallery of observers sitting on the front porch watching the action.

The 41 year old believes his watch his somewhere in the front yard, but, as of yet, no one has found his timepiece.

One highlight had to be the backyard adventure entitled, "Felling of the Tree." Looking back, it was somewhat similar to the pictures we saw on TV as the people in Iraq pulled down the statue of Sadam Hussein. In my case, it was an old, dead elm tree in the backyard that needed to be removed.

My nephew, who is a tree expert, said, "I've got a 100 feet rope in the back of my truck."

After a few throws, he managed to get it over a high limb and then made a loop. The three of us who were less talented got at the end of the 100 foot rope and put pressure on the tree while he hauled out a man-sized chainsaw. Between our tugging and his sawing, the tree fell exactly where we wanted it to. The whole backyard erupted in applause, mixed with flying twigs and bark, as the tree came crashing down.

By the end of Thanksgiving Day, I was exhausted from all the festivities. At about 4 p.m., I told the remaining members of the family that I was going to take a short nap. When my short nap was over at 6 p.m., I got up only to find that the cleaning fairies had been at work: the cabinets were all cleaned, the dishes were all washed, and my 92-year-old aunt had run the sweeper.

Life is good.