Thanksgiving 2023

          Zee and I built a house big enough to entertain in, but history proved that we have been poor entertainers as I probably can count the get-togethers we’ve had since 1975 on my fingers. But this has all changed this year when Lilly said that she and Mike had invited 31 for Thanksgiving dinner and could we use our house for the celebration. I said yes but there’s an accumulation of cobwebs, old magazines that I might read someday, and dishes that have been stored away for many years that needed washing. Outside there were weeds to be pulled, windows to be washed, and stuff that I walked by every day that no longer gets noticed. Lilly said, “Sage, your granddaughter, is ready to have a wrestling match with 49 years of spiders, bland, and dust.” Sage loves this house and told us all it needs is new shower heads for those that had become plugged with “hard water” over the years and furniture that when replaced could move most of our house forward into the 21st century. 

          Wait a minute I think I hear a helicopter above our house and sure enough, it’s landing in the front yard. Moments later our youngest grandson Kincade Varian, who is 19 and lives and breathes helicopters, took his first solo flight in a two-passenger Chopper. He decided to fly by because he needs to be paid for moving some of our newly received cattle from the Monterey County side of the V6 to the Fresno County side of the ranch for the upcoming green grass season. I wish Cade could have known my father for he too at the age of 19 could think of nothing but becoming an aviator. So in 1920, having just soloed, he bought a used WWI fighter plane called a Jenny. 103 years later we have the modern version which is called an F16 fighter jet built for the U.S. Air Force. With the ending of WWI, there were lots of surplus Jenny’s to buy for $100 each. My dad was a thrill seeker all his life. But to keep a not-too-reliable Jenny in the air, Dad had to find a place with tools to do the repairs and an airstrip to land on. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo was the perfect answer. He registered as an Aeronautical Engineering student and was there to study aviation and fix his lovable Jenny. I don’t know how long he attended Cal Poly but long enough that in 1954 he was honored as alumnus of the year and I was just finishing up my freshman year as a Cal Poly animal husbandry major. 

       Now back to 2023. Two days before Thanksgiving a two-woman tornado arrived at our house by the name of Lillian and Sage Massey my daughter and granddaughter. They came ready to mop, wash windows, vacuum, and rearrange things from beds to silverware that a 50-year-old house needs to keep Zee and me warm and cozy. 

      All 31 of us ate two turkeys and all the trimmings outside on the front porch, a first for everybody. It was most enjoyable as it was a California, warm day and the view was great. So thanks Sage and Lil for a wonderful time. In fact, Lily said it was so much fun, how about we do it again for Christmas? Santa Claus, you can find us at the V6 Ranch in Parkfield, California population 18. 

                   See Ya,

                     Jack

My granddaughter Kayla took this video of the beautiful, sunny, California day we were lucky to have.