Family Day

I've never seen a Purple Cow,

I never hope to see one,

But I can tell you anyhow,

I'd rather see than be one.

I learned that little rhyme from my father, who delighted in rhymes and limericks and in children's books that rhymed. He had a rhyming sense of humor.

We got these purple plates from My Beloved's sister, who sent them to us for Christmas. She finds amazing and wonderful presents in the attic each year. Their father, a dear and lovable man now gone to heaven, graduated from Williams College and, ever after, donated to them each year. Their mascot is the Purple Cow. The plates have scenes of Williams College buildings on them. I'm pretty sure these dinner plates were Williams' way of saying thank you to him for his generosity.

Because the Christmas season is what it is, they arrived on New Year's Eve, literally just in time to use on my dinner table that evening. I had such fun setting that table! From the table up: machine washable lace matts from my 'eighties Victorian period, my trousseau silver, the purple plates, my mother's gold-and-white china soup bowls, purple napkins I bought probably 10 years ago and china napkin rings I found this year while poking through shops in Point Reyes with our dear friend Sari - we think of her as a daughter. Out of the frame are Steuben water glasses my sister got for a wedding present but then gave to me when she downsized her house and wine glasses that were a wedding present from My Beloved's brother.

When you sit down to dinner with all those family mementos resonating around you, you can't but have a Happy New Year's Eve dinner, can you? Reminds me how fortunate I am to have a family that isn't close in geography but is always close by.