So pull back your hair and roll up your sleeves

For reasons of family scheduling, we are just about to head off to Thanksgiving observed at my parents' house. Yesterday while there was still strong tea-tinted sun, I walked around our neighborhood and was treated to some unexpectedly domestic scenes of people walking to one another's houses with dishes and what I can only describe as a wholesome interaction between two men standing on a porch, one of whom was relieved to hear he could compliment the other because appearance can be so fraught for reasons of health and weight and cetera: "All right, then you look fucking amazing, man!" I made the acquaintance of a local birch tree.