business as usual

on Holy Island in October

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. In the US, that is, tomorrow is Thanksgiving day. What are we doing here? Well, Anna has dance club after school and the boys are going to a friend's house for supper. Lucy will be at nursery as usual in the morning, and Lewis and I both have to work.

So it goes for the American living in Britain, married to an Englishman. True, he really enjoys cooking and eating Thanksgiving dinner--but only in the States. Here in the UK, we can't be quite that counter-cultural. If only: it would be great if I could get some canned pumpkin, thus making the pumpkin-pie-baking a much easier task...sigh.

Tonight, however,  we are getting the kids ready for bed, because they have school tomorrow. Fortunately, they're not too bothered. That's good: the last thing we need is an excuse for Iain to plead 'day off' from school. I can just imagine him saying, 'But I was born in America. I should have Thanksgiving day off!' Not, of course, that he's interested in the reason for the celebration, or eating the turkey--or even the pumpkin pie, for that matter--he just yearns for days off from school

With any luck (and a miracle at the UK border agency), he'll spend extra days off over the Christmas holidays traveling to California.

He won't want turkey then, either, or pumpkin pie. But we'll have it all the same. After all, a girl has to get that pumpkin fix sometime.