~Sunday, January 6, 2013
Who would put a
Christmas tree out on a pier?: You
guessed it—Californians! What a perfect
setting for a family holiday getaway in Santa Barbara. The vision of that Christmas tree will be
engraved in my memory forever—reminding me of the book, A Moveable Feast, where Ernest Hemingway referred to the days he lived
in Paris as a ‘moveable feast’ because the memories of those days stayed with
him for the rest of his life.
This festive
weekend all started as a plan to celebrate my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, and the more details we planned for the celebration the more we
couldn’t wait to go, (and as usual my well-traveled client friends had a
wonderful list of restaurants and ideas for our family visit in Santa Barbara!). However, my favorite planning detail was
color-coordinating everyone’s wardrobe for a family portrait which was to be
the big anniversary “surprise.” (It was
a little tricky coming up with a small tale to tell my mom and dad why I wanted
them to dress in certain colors for a trip to a winery in the Santa Inez
Valley, but given my odd requests the past year and a half for good book and
blog material, they didn’t even question it.)
My favorite unplanned detail of the trip was the picture-perfect day we were gifted by
the temperamental rainy morning that moved through the valley, resulting in
dramatic clouds in the sky, vibrant shades of green on the surrounding
hillsides, and shiny golden leaves dancing on the trees and sprinkled
along a pond behind the setting where our family portrait would take place
later that afternoon. Oh… happy day!!! I think our photographer was equally as happy
with the nature-given setting that day, (her husband not so much when he
slipped and fell in the mud carrying away one of the props--splat!). For the finale, at the end of our posing and props, our chilled fingers and toes were happily treated to wine tasting served to us in the estate club room at the dining table as
we enjoyed our lunch selection from a local deli--pretty darn nice!
Fine dining,
fine wine—lots of love and laughs! What more
do you need to have a great family vacation?
Oh yeah….I almost forgot….and sunsets on the beach! Not to mention all eight of us filing into
the car together as we headed out on our adventures—my sister and my husband
fighting over who got to sit in the back seat with her kids, (my husband just
wanting to be one of the kids, and my sister wanting to keep the peace!). Me?—I was just in it for the ride and the
togetherness; because as we all know, togetherness moments are hard to come by
in today’s world with the entire family—especially for three consecutive days!
I will never
forget the smiles on my parents’ faces, and the happiness and radiance
sparkling in their eyes as we celebrated throughout these days our family unity and love that was
fifty years in the making: A moveable
feast indeed!
