"Thanksgiving Sunshine" - Waldorf Window Star - Art Every Day Month - Day 24

This Thanksgiving it's going to be warm - about 56 degrees, or 5 degrees short of a record high temperature for the holiday. 

In celebration of a rather balmy Thanksgiving, I made this window star in a bright yellow:

This star is made by individually folding small pieces of paper for each point ten times each. With 16 points, that's 160 folds to create this star.

It's not the easiest star I make, nor the most complicated. The easiest star has 4 folds per point and 8 points (32 folds total); and the most complicated has 24 folds per point and 16 points (384 folds total).

Now with the window star done and a break from working on the Minnesota state quilt (for one day) as part of Art Every Day Month, the focus is on Thanksgiving.

I'm hoping for enough (emotional) strength to make it through the day. It's the first Thanksgiving in which my dad won't be joining us. (He is in the late stages of Alzheimer's Disease and cannot be safely transported to my home from the nursing home. I also don't have the resources to hire two staff people to help him with his basic needs, feeding, etc.)

This year, with this major change, I ended up not trying a lot of new recipes like I normally do or going the wide range of choices (e.g., several types of quick breads/rolls, several salads).

Instead, I'm sticking with the basics that everyone enjoys; and re-visiting some recipes that I've made in the past that either remind me of times when my father was with us for Thanksgiving or food that my mom would have prepared for Thanksgiving at their home many years ago.

Perhaps the sunshine - the warmth - will help make Thanksgiving one that we can enjoy...but, perhaps, for different reasons. Maybe a walk on the nature trail in the back part of the farm might be fun - and something we've never been able to do since it has always been cold.

Starting new traditions...while keeping some of the old ones...will be important this year (for Thanksgiving as well as other holidays) as inevitable changes are and will be happening.