Thanksgiving 2018 sideboard
My mother believed in table settings, not in an "all things holy and the world will end if you don't do this" way but as "part of what makes a well-ordered world is a well-ordered table." She imbibed the philosophy from her mother who, in turn, imbibed it from her mother, and so on. The table-setting components didn't have to be expensive or rare because they weren't intended to impress. Rather, they showed respect for the food so carefully prpared and the friends and family who would eat it. Mother particularly liked a pretty sideboard, and so every year when I arrange the sideboard, I think of her and all the wonderful Thanksgiving dinners she prepared and the welcoming table around which we ate them. I've missed more than one holiday due to professional commitments that found me far away. This year, I made it home, and this is the Thanksgiving sideboard. I think Mother would, maybe, find it OK.