1.) The holiday itself. Lover and I went with his family in NYC. His aunt and uncle own a house where a lot of the extended family gathers each year. They hired a piano player and had hours of sing-alongs. When the piano player left, another uncle put on a CD of some great hip-hop tunes to which people danced. Meanwhile, the roughly 25 of us that were present chatted, mingled, rocked our hips and sipped wine and beer. When we sat down for dinner finally, everyone around the table named things they were thankful for. I said I was thankful for my family, my dog Malai, my job, and for their family.
2.) Black Friday. I'm not a big shopper. But since Lover's family makes Thanksgiving a three-day event (!), we drove back into the city, and had dinner again. We walked around and happened upon a craft fair in Union Square where Lover and I invested in some art for our kitchen (aren't these the cutest??? My favorite is the one-eyed furry guy named Gnaw. The artist is kudu-lah and has an etsy shop.) Lover and I share a thing for art that might be considered a little strange...
We also found a snail for our aquarium (yes, we have been looking). His name is Happy. And he leaves trails...get it??? He'll also help maintain the cleanliness of the tank which makes for healthier fish.
We visited the megastore of all Petcos. I never realize how much the NYC Petco offered - kittens for adoption, and a giant variety of creatures and creature accoutrements. I saw so many cool crustaceans that Lover decided it was time for me to be removed from the store. I'll admit the idea was a good one, because I can be a impulse pet buyer (but I am also an excellent pet caretaker, and my impulse occurs only after I have googled the care needs and history of the animal in question with my phone - yay for technology!).
We visited The Strand, a very large used bookstore. Used bookstores are of course among my favorite things of all time. I was removed from that store as well before the buying really began. :)
And then we went by a really eco-friendly recycling type of store whose name I can't for the life of me recall! Lover bought me a wallet made of Tyvek (he really thinks I would do better to carry one), which is a material that cannot be ripped and acts as a barrier against liquid water (water vapor can penetrate, but that is not an issue). I was curious about the sustainability/recycling aspect and found this (from Wikipedia) among confirming info from other sites:
"Though Tyvek superficially resembles paper (for example, it can be written and printed on), it is plastic, and it cannot be recycled with paper. Despite the fact that some Tyvek products are marked with the #2 resin-code for HDPE, it is not usually collected with plastic bottles as part of municipal curbside recycling programs. Instead, DuPont runs a program in the United States where disposable clothing, coveralls, lab coats, and other Tyvek disposable garments can be recycled, as well as providing a mail-in recycling program for envelopes."
So it seems to me that Tyvek is only eco-friendly when is it is being continually used or repurposed. The kit DuPont uses to recycle (it's actually downcycle) Tyvek costs you $15. A Tyvek wallet is a good example of Tyvek being eco-friendly, because it need not go into a landfill, unless I purposely try to wreck it with scissors, in which case it can still be reused for something else or it can be sent to DuPont. However, it is still plastic. Plastic does not biodegrade - it photodegrades, meaning it becomes tiny particles present in our soil and water. Plastic is forever. This is why I am not a fan of plastic bags at stores, and carry my own cloth bags. The unfortunate effect of downcycling is that the materials produced are of a lesser quality than the original item.
However, it's an awesome wallet - thin, lightweight, and highly durable. It'll last me many, many years, and then if I get tired of it, I can always send it to a place like Unstitched Utilities, which reuses Tyvek to create shoes.
3.) Saturday. We woke up early, played video games, and fell back asleep. We woke up again, and then decided to put lights on one of our trees on the front lawn. That turned into lights for the tree and the whole house!
But I can't tell you how delightful it is to come home to a colorfully lit house for the holidays.
4.) Sunday. Not such a relaxing day, but a productive one. Lover and I built a raised garden bed for the backyard - 32 feet long! I'm so glad to have that and the vermicomposting started. I still want to build an outdoor composter. I already have a lot of seeds (yay for seed sharing with friends), but January and February will mean ordering ones I don't have, and March is indoor planting time!
And that is about the sum of my Thanksgiving weekend. I hope yours was wonder-full.
Sounds like an amazing weekend :) I love that art, especially Gnaw!
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