Giving Thanks, 2021

This year I am thankful for the people who worked on Thanksgiving Day. 

I had been scheduled for hospital service over the holiday for the second year in a row, but my parents-in-law had reserved rooms for us the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville in February or March (a rescheduled Christmas present from 2020, and back when we thought vaccination would end the pandemic). Thankfully I was able to make a trade with a colleague to cover the last two days of my shift, so I could fly down on Thursday. A kind church friend drove me to the Pittsburgh airport, and I picked up some hot chicken and an old fashioned at a Nashville airport eatery (Party Fowl) to eat at my final destination.

I spent the night in an Air BnB, a garage converted into a backyard efficiency apartment (the building in the background of the photo below). It was cute, and quiet. I was able to walk to pick up breakfast and spent my downtime watching re-runs of Xena: Warrior Princess or working on my laptop (when the wifi worked). I have two presentations in December, one on accessibility in online teaching and one on the history of polio vaccination.

The Five Points neighborhood of East Nashville is a cute residential area of nicely painted single-family homes. I felt very comfortable walking around by myself on a cooooold but clear morning. To the left is a fire station designed to look like a house.

After a quick meal of a gourmet donut from Five Daughters Bakery, a pear from home, and my airline snack mix (none of the restaurants in the area were open for lunch on Friday), I met up with Dear Husband and his parents, and we moved into the hotel, which was a revelation for me. It's really a series of hotels built around big indoor garden atria that are now decorated for Christmas with trees and lights. Some of the shops were Christmas themed, and some of the activities for kids. There was a mix of country and Christmas music. Their catch phrase "So. Much. Christmas." epitomizes truth in advertising.

We spent our first day checking in, wandering around the complex, eating dinner at an Italian restaurant, and listening to a guitar player at a bar next to the waterfalls in the picture on the left. The second day we wanted to go ice skating outside, maybe swim in the indoor pool, take the indoor boat ride, and have a formal family dinner together. Unfortunately, I woke up with a headache, subjective fever, mild sore throat, and chest tightness, so I spent the morning getting a COVID test and the afternoon holed up in our room working or watching comfort TV. Dear Husband spent part of the evening with his family (masked because he had been around me) and brought take-out from the restaurant, which we ate in our room while watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

This was our view of the ice rink (white trees) and snow tubing (pink lights). All day and into the night we could hear the music. Sunday we packed up and drove home with the in-laws. I stayed double-masked and ate separately until my test came back negative Monday morning. Then it was time for the two of us to drive home and resume regular life with clinic and rehearsals.

I am thankful for friends and family, for my health and insurance (which are both good most of the time), for a job with flexibility, and a car. If you're reading this, I'm glad you're in my life. How did you celebrate, and for what are you thankful this year?