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Stephen and Dylan enjoying
Bert's delicious dumplings, rice, and Asian salads and sauces.
Stephen was not feeling well
and was therefore not at his usual eat, drink and be merry best.
Tim goes back for more...
Dylan, Michael and Deb
Dylan gets his ear tweaked...
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Dylan's friend Sam, he of
the still-long hair
Sam and Tim
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Deb and Liese relax after
their dumplings.
Everyone was stuffed and happy.
Little did they know what
would happen the next day...
We had driven up from Jersey
in clear weather on Wednesday; there was
already snow on the ground
in Vermont and it started snowing again that night.
It snowed all Thanksgiving
day until there was about 12 inches on the ground.
The roads were terrible, people
were putting chains on their tires,
but Jude's property shore
looked purty.
All ready for a houseful of
guests, the chic sunken living room,
with radiant floor heat and
a picturesque but unfortunately non-functioning stove in the corner.
(brrr! it's cold upstairs
at Jude's!)
Jude set a beautiful table,
with placecards by Angus
(horns-of-plenty made from
Bugles and Fruit Loops)
Dylan on his Vew-Do
board...a very simple but ingenious device
that lets you practice the
balancing skills you need for skiing,
snowboarding, skateboarding
and surfing, right in your own home!
Warning: those over 21 may
be taking their life in their hands.
Jude's traditional "let's
all come together and EAT!" centerpiece
Tim shows Dylan his favorite
computer game, World of Warcraft
Liese wants to know why I
am taking this picture of her on Tim's iBook...
I don't know but Aunt Judy
took one too!
Tim and Dylan go sledding
while the grownups start cooking...
It was a regular winter wonderland,
except it was fall.
The dogs were having a blast
in the snow.
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| MEANWHILE...Steve M. had a
severe allergic reaction to the
potatoes he was peeling and ran upstairs to look for some Benadryl.
He found a couple kiddie tabs and took them, then went back downstairs
to finish the potatoes...next thing we knew he had collapsed and was convulsing
on the kitchen floor.
Jude remained level-headed and called 911...the Mad River Valley Ambulance Service had a couple of supremely competent volunteer EMTs on the scene in about 10 minutes, even though Jude lives in the middle of nowhere halfway up a mountain and it was snowing hard and it was Thanksgiving Day! They stabilized Steve with oxygen, an Epi stick and an IV. Half an hour later the third and last local ambulance arrived, the other two having crashed en route. They took Steve to the hospital where he got more epinephrine (that's adrenaline, folks, and it COMPLETELY reverses all the processes that go wrong when you have a severe allergic reaction). Pretty soon he was sitting up and talking and otherwise back to normal, although he will not be peeling potatoes ever again... So we had a strange Thanksgiving dinner...in Jude's house without Jude! She and Steve got back from the hospital about 9:30...everybody was gone and the place was cleaned up and their plates were in the refrigerator...but at least they finally got to eat and a tragedy was averted. Thanks, MRVAS! |
Here's Aunt Bert relaxing
after doing a lot of the cooking
and, much to her surprise,
co-hostessing the event
with Deb and Jeannie in the
sudden absence of Jude.
Matt and Jeannie's lovely
daughter Carly
takes a break between dinner
and dessert.
Dylan digs into some of the
chocolate cake he made that morning with Liese,
but it was Bert's lemon bars
(on right) that the kids liked the most.
Lisa and Duncan
Angus was glad to talk to
his father once
he was stabilized and about
to be discharged.
Liese waits for Judy and Steve
to come home from the hospital...
The next morning, she eats
a healthy breakfast in the bright sunshine.
while Tim uncharacteristically
goes for the very sweet chocolate cake...
And here he is, Anaphylactic
Boy!
Steve, the day after, glad
to be alive and sans feeling of impending doom (one of the signs
of anaphylaxis).
In addition to his regular
practice of law, we hear that Steve will now be moonlighting
as a spokesperson for EpiPen,
the simple medical device that saved his life this Thanksgiving.
On the way home...the waterfall
on Route 100,
eight miles south of the turnoff
for Jude's house...