What We Bring to the Table: Part 1

I have to admit, the upcoming Holidays really snuck up on me this year.  I was so busy capturing the lingering summer blooms I all but ignored the changing leaves, the changing of the clocks and the fact that whether I was ready for it or not, Thanksgiving was arriving.  

The imminent approach of Thanksgiving did not crystallize in my mind until I saw the magnificent Edward Wormley for Dunbar Dining Table that arrived in the Gallery last week.  When I saw it I was so overwhelmed, I could hardly catch my breath and I thought: What a magnificent table to celebrate Thanksgiving around.  Sometimes a piece of furniture can do that to you; it can evoke true feelings and memories in all of us.

Thanksgiving is the holiday of choice in our family, and our youngest son’s favorite meal of the year.  No matter what is going on around us; work, show houses, school applications, tests, papers etc., we always come together in the country for that day to gorge ourselves on the usual holiday fare and spend quality time together watching football, playing scrabble and monopoly and running around on the front lawn with Charlie.

It is the simplicity of the day that everybody loves.  A time for true decompression and accordingly, no major pre-requisites or dress codes are required in our house on this day.  It is a come as you are, slow home, kick off your shoes, chill kind of day, ideal for celebrating life and giving thanks for all that we have. 

The table we gather around is perfect for the occasion.  While old and ruggedly honed, storing years of memories in every nick and scuff, it still offers us infinite possibilities for creating new memories every year. 

And with the sounds of whistles from a far away football field echoing through the house, before we finally settle around the table, before we attack the cornucopia of another year’s harvest, I sit quietly at the table alone and listen to the sounds of the house.  I close my eyes and try to imagine our house in its earliest days, when much like Little House on the Prairie, it was a single room with a sleeping loft and an attached barn. 

My mind drifts back to a simpler time and I begin to wonder about the man who built our house.  He, like us, had three sons and although his original acreage was substantially bigger (over 200 acres) and the house much smaller (originally a single room with an attached barn), I can’t help but ponder what else we share in common.  What I know to be true is that we share a love of this home and this land and for that, I am thankful.

So, no matter the size or extravagance of our table or celebration, what is most important is what we bring to the table.  Not the food or libations, which are a given, but the time together with friends and loved ones reminiscing and making new memories.  Enjoy the simple beauty of a day that reminds us to pause and give thanks Everyday.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Part II of this post: After Thanksgiving