Thanksgiving

I hadn’t planned to take a vacation from the blog. It just kind of happened. It’s amazing what a four-day vacation will do to you.

My brother and his wife were here to celebrate the holiday and from the moment they arrived my house was caught in a whirlwind of activity. We hosted the Thanksgiving feast so I cooked up a storm that included apple pie, chocolate cake and Kristi’s Holiday Cobbler in addition to the turkey and it’s trimmings. We played games and shopped and loafed around. Of course I was knitting a lot too.

Aside from waking at o'dark thirty on Black Friday to go do my bit for the national economy, I rarely left the house. The most notable exception was a trip into the District on Saturday to see the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, a place that I’ve wanted to visit since it opened in the fall of 2004. It's within view of the Capitol building which was neat because my sister-in-law, who just moved here from South Korea, had never seen it before. The first thing that we all noticed about the museum is that it is a stunning building. The walls of the museum are made of yellow stone that curves along in a warm and inviting way.

Inside, the museum is stunning as well. Many of the walls are of the same stone as the exterior accented with warm, natural colors and beaten metal. There are very few straight lines in the museum which lends it an organic feel that is exactly right.

We just loved this guy but, as I write this I realize that I have no details about him. He’s just one example of the art that is displayed throughout the museum, presented in a way that encourages you to get up close and experience it. While the art was beautiful, it wasn’t the thing that made the strongest impression. The word museum usually makes one think of a window on the past but the NMAI is really a celebration and appreciation of American Indian culture. I noted that many of the objects on display and quotes printed on the walls are quite recent – well within my lifetime. NMAI is as much about the lives of American Indians today as it is about those of the past. It’s about their contributions to and struggles in our changing world.

Predictably, we didn’t have nearly enough time to see the whole museum but the beauty of living where we do is that we can (and will) go back. It’s just a short ride!

Oh! I nearly forgot the knitting. I finished my hat for Knit Unto Others and Stinkerbelle was kind enough to model it for me.

I finished something else for Knit Unto Others too but I’ll save it’s debut for tomorrow.