Or, Welcome to a Belated Thanksgiving Day post.
This Thanksgiving, I welcomed not one, but two people for their first Thanksgiving. Unlike previous years where we just sit on down to the turkey and all the trimmings (isn’t this always the way it’s stated: turkey and all the trimmings?) my non-first Thanksgiving guests and I all tried to explain the meaning of the holiday. We actually tried to begin the meal by saying what we were ‘thankful for,’ but didn’t get very far since everyone was hungry. (Personally, I was thankful that I brined the locally sourced, free range turkey I bought at the local farmers’ market, since it was easily the best turkey I’ve ever made.) In any event, we had a great meal and great time, and not much thought was given again to the holiday, except trying to tell the guests that everything we did was “traditional,” including whooping it up with the neighbor’s karaoke machine. Do you know what tomorrow is? I’ll bet you that you don’t! It’s America Recycles Day (by America, I’m assuming that they mean the United States.)
Like a lot of folks, I’ve been thinking a great deal about recycling, and cutting my carbon footprint. I guess when we think about the three “Rs”: reduce, reuse, recycle, they are in order of priority, which is REDUCE. It does seem to go against the grain of the US ethos (especially during this increasingly early holiday season) to talk about reducing. Of course, I sell stuff, which doesn’t exactly gel with getting people to reduce. (Of course, some of my stuff is already recycled, and is long lasting, so you won’t have to buy another handbag, scarf, or wallet any time soon!) What’s interesting, well, to me, is that November 15th’s day is sponsored by big corporations, like Coca-Cola, Dell, and Staples. I’m sure they mean well *ahem*, but they sure ain’t telling anyone to reduce. If you want to see more about this day, check out the National Recycling Coalition’s site. Anyway, good on them! Now, if Baltimore could just get its act together picking up our recycling, we’d be all set! So, I’ve taken the recycling pledge, and here’s my badge to prove it! Ok, now, didn’t get you still photos of Tbilisi, but maybe this moving ones will give you a bit an an overview on how lovely it is! And, for those closely following the news, many of the gorgeous buildings are on Rustivelli Blvd, the main drag of Tbilisi, where the Parliament is, and where the protests, and the ensuing crack down, took place. Ok, this has nothing to do with Three Stone Steps, or silk scarves, or eco-chic, or Phnom Penh, or recycled anything. This is more along the lines with the protests, crackdown (cue: song from London Calling, Working for the Clamp Down) in Georgia. Georgia, and Tbilisi was a place I found lovely and lovable. Elegant and crumbling. Great, hospitable people who would do anything for you. Few, if any, other travelers. A wonderful city in a wonder country. So, it is with tears in my eyes, literally, that I’ve been scouring the web for stories coming out of that country about the protests and the ensuing crushing of the peaceful protests. I wrote a friend in Tbilisi this morning, and asked her how she was holding up. With typical Georgian elan, she was justsort of resigned to this sort of stuff happening, but what really bothered where was the press blackout. Here’s what she wrote:
what is really upseting me is that they closed 2 telecompanies.. one of them was really tough with government but people loved that channel as they were most objective! so the soldiers with guns and masks on their faces entered that telecompany and just ordered them to stop broadcasting _ I was watching it while that was going on! they put those journalists on the floor (as they tell it after) and took their mobile phones and only after some time let them out from the building. and also, yesterday i had cnn and euronew _ and today i had no this channels anymore! so we are in information vacuum! and pardon me but that sucks! right now i'm home _ schools are closed for minimum till monday.. and i'm really gald i still have internet! But, I'm trying to remember the Tbilisi and country that enchanted me when I was there a little over a year ago. To that end, please enjoy the following photos, and if I can figure out what can be done from the outside world, well, I'll post that, too. [Ok. For some unknown reason, I can't figure out how to post more of my lovely photos from lovely Georgia, but in the words of another Beatles song, we will work it out!] |
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November 2018
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