A Thankful Month Days Thirteen and Fourteen

So, somehow the weekend was chaotic, and when I sat down to post two thankful posts last night, I quite literally passed out on my laptop computer. So let's try to play a little catch up, shall we? Today's thankfulness post actually works for two days, because I am expressing thankfulness for two people...my mom and dad.

Saturday, I attended a big "epic" photo shoot down in Jackson, Ohio, and while we were driving down there, my friends Chris and Ellie were playing their iPod on random songs. They are enthusiasts of bluegrass music, and all of us were enjoying the tunes. The topic came up of how thankful I was for some of my parents' cool hobbies and enthusiasms. Growing up, they might not have seemed so cool to me, but as an adult they have stuck by me, and I appreciate them all the more.

My dad raised me on bluegrass and folk music. He also had a side job as a magician/balloon artist/juggler/clown. Growing up was occasionally a bit of a three ring circus, and at the time it seemed like family scenes like this at Christmas:

..were entirely normal. Didn't everyone's dad sit around and play the guitar in greasepaint?

Of course now I have a special fondness both for bluegrass and folk music, and for the carnivalesque atmosphere of magic and clowning.
(No, this is not my dad in the picture. Yes, you can find just about anything on Google images, including a banjo-playing clown)

Thanks, dad. You're pretty cool.

My mom, likewise, also loved folk music and encouraged dad's creative pursuits. But I appreciate that she always loved fantasy and imagination. When asked what her favorite book was, her answer was always the same: Lord of the Rings. And this was long before the films made the books popular or even known at all. She often would receive blank stares from people who had no idea what she was talking about, but she knew what she loved.


Every Saturday night from the earliest age I can remember, our family had pizza and Star Trek night. I actually remember the tradition from before The Next Generation premiered in 1987, when we would watch the original series. We moved in to TNG, then to DS9, then the habit changed to pizza and Babylon 5. But there was always pizza and Sci Fi. My husband and I recently started rewatching TNG, and just hearing the sound effects of the show gives me a Pavlovian desire for my mom's handmade pepperoni and cheese.



Thanks, mom. You're pretty cool.

So I wound up being a sci fi and fantasy geek who loves magic shows and banjo music. I think all has ended as it should be.