Thanksgiving week we drove to Texas to spend time with family and to pick up some astronomy equipment my Uncle Joe no longer had a use for. Among our newly acquired treasures is a pair of 25X magnification binoculars. In addition to being sleek, powerful, and beautiful, they are heavy and difficult to hold steady enough to look through. So, they come with a tripod and a balancing arm with counter weight.

Oberwerk binoculars on a parallelogram mount…upside down. We’ll get it right next time.

These are designed to allow you to recline in a comfortable lounge chair and pull the binoculars to your eyes. The weight at the other end of the arm counterbalances the heavy binoculars making them effectively weightless and the tripod holds everything steady. The crisp winter night sky has special delights but viewing them is always uncomfortable. Pile on a couple of blankets, maybe even one electric, and these binoculars promise an unusual combination: comfort and stargazing. If the binoculars weren’t enough, and they were, we also acquired a 8 inch Celestron with goto mount and an incredible set of eye-relief lenses.

We also brought back some of my grandmother’s (Margaret Imber Johnson Hynes) watercolor paintings. My Uncle Eric moved in November and his new place does not have wall space for all his art. I love the vibrancy in this piece hanging over the fireplace. The colorful Zapotec rug is from my mom, who thought it was a better fit for Santa Fe than her new place the Texas Hill Country.

Even if we didn’t get all that stuff, just seeing family, playing games, and celebrating my mom’s birthday would have made the trip.

On Thanksgiving day our new neighbors Lindy and David invited us over to share the delicious meal Lindy had prepared, a classic Thanksgiving spread. I brought my favorite holiday casserole. Obviously, we have a lot to be thankful for.

Haul

Perfect Days

Reflection