The family juggernaut that is Thanksgiving has finally begun to wind down. My brother Phil and his family, wife and three teenagers, got into town Wednesday night. I met them at my sister V’s house. I had taken V and Camilla to the airport Tuesday afternoon. She had sent my nephew Taylor to California on Southwest airlines at six that morning to be with his Dad’s family, leaving the house vacant for the arrival of Phil’s clan.

V and her foreign exchange student Camilla went to Texas for the break to stay with Camilla’s Aunt Merisel. My nephew Trevor flew to Texas from California so they could all spend time together, go to Mexico etc. I talked to V last night and she said that after a day trip into Mexico the guards were not going to readmit Merisel to the country. She spent hours in the little room while her guests waited on the green card gods. Ah the magical Bush land offers up another example of American peace and tolerance as his administration continues to slit our national throat. You can’t stop the person, there’s no net big enough to close our borders; it’s a ridiculous impossibility. You have to stop the philosophy and the desire to do us harm. That begins with behaving differently in the world so as not to foster hatred.

There’s a great article in the recent Newsweek detailing how America’s edge in science and technology is based primarily on immigration as, “American’s don’t do science”. A page or two away the French Government has taken out a full-page ad detailing the reasons why high skilled, high tech research and development people will find France’s own Silicone Valley to be a paradise on Earth. Europeans love Bush for just this reason, their reputation for tolerance will rob America of the best and the brightest, just as America stole them from Europe mid century. We will now fight the wars, and Europe and China will become the new dominant force globally. Don’t believe me? I hear OPEC is switching from the dollar to the Euro.

So anyway Thursday my sister Sandy, brother in law Steve and their two children drove up from Imperial and we did the full on family thing. Phil and I did the bird (basting, rotating, resting, and carving), the squash, the stuffing, the roasted veggies and the giblet gravy. My nieces Sarah and Erica, and Grace took care of many of the other sides like the sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, the Jell-O, the white potatoes, the cranberry, green beans with almonds, the hot rolls, etc. Sandy brought homemade apple and pumpkin pies, which were perfect. Marty slept in, so he got to do the dishes. Ah food, my holiday ten pounds is already upon me. Sarah and Erica each claimed a drumstick and devoured them like medieval peasants. I ate some of everything and then I ate some more.

We played cards, took naps, went to see The Incredibles and generally had a great time. Friday we did both The City Museum and the St. Louis Zoo, which should generally take a day each. Saturday we did The St. Louis Art Museum, as my Nephew Marty has an artistic observation paper due in an AP English class this week. We picked Monet’s Water Lilies to observe and spent some time with the center panel. The other two panels of this large work are in Kansas City and Cleveland respectively. We lucked into a Dosen’s (sp?) tour of the Impressionist Gallery and got great insights into the official view of Monet’s work.

Examples: I didn’t know he made the pond on the back of his property, that his brush strokes in Water Lilies were six to nine inches each, that his patrons were primarily Russian and American, that if one stands far enough away one can see the reflection of a willow tree in the water, etc.

We then hit Star Clipper’s Comics in the Loop and got to see some of that hipster Loop culture: walking past street musicians playing sax with the hat out, that sort of thing.

After the Loop we picked up one of V’s dogs from the vet and kenneled him at her house. After he was settled we went to Imperial for my nephew Henry’s baptism. Phil and Grace were the sponsors. We did a big ham dinner with Steve’s side of the family afterward and then I had to pick up Taylor from the airport at ten p.m.

I get to play parent until V gets home Tuesday. I even packed a lunch this a.m.! Phil and family drove the ten hours back to St. Paul yesterday and T and I went to see The Incredibles again, yes I liked it that much.

So after T was off to school today I went back to bed and slept until noon. I am exhausted. I still have to get V from the airport tomorrow and then I have a big dinner out. Tuesday is dine-out-for-life day in St. Louis where many area restaraunts donate a high percentage or the day’s income for AIDS and HIV research. We have reservations for eight at eight out in the West End where we will run up a tab for a cause.