収束ゾーンでのライフ: Life in the Convergence Zone

Thanksgiving triplog #17
Mechanicsburg, PA · Fri, 28 Nov 2025. 2pm.

After my plans to see my cousins fell through today I was at wits' end for what to do with myself. Staying around the house with my pokey inlaws is stultifying. So I knew I wanted to go out. But... to do what? Today is Black Friday, so going shopping would be on brand... except there's nothing I want to buy. And trolling around stores on this supposedly busiest day of the year seems like it would be more frustrating. (I'm skeptical about whether it's the busiest day of the year anymore, but that doesn't change the equation that shopping today is likely to be more frustrating than enjoyable.)

Hawk seemed to be looking for an excuse to get out the house, too, because when I suggested I might go out to eat for lunch, she agreed to join me. She agreed to join me for pizza, even. We found a well rated pizzeria a few miles away and headed there first.

Getting pizza in central Pennsylvania was a bit of culture shock. The shocker wasn't the pizza itself. It was east coast style pizza, which is exactly what I expected... though maybe a bit bland compared to what I expected. (Pizza with my mom and sister a few days ago in Virginia was way richer.) The shocker was the price. A lunch combo with two slices and a drink was $8 for cheese slices, $9 for pepperoni. And the slices were huge. That kind of meal back home would be literally twice the price.

After stuffing ourself on more pizza than we believed we could eat we considered again going shopping somewhere. Hawk did have a bead shop in mind, so we drove over to that in Mechanicsburg's quaint downtown area. The old fashioned stores there were empty, and street parking was easy. We considered shopping somewhere again after that but decided just to go home instead. We'd had enough of a break from the house.

Thanksgiving triplog #16
Camp Hill, PA · Fri, 28 Nov 2025. 12pm.

When I visited my cousin Matt on Monday he mentioned having plans to visit our cousin, Rebecca, on Friday. "Do you think Rebecca would mind if I joined?" I asked him Tuesday morning. I figured it'd be great to see Matt again— a few hours once a year is not enough— and I looked forward to seeing my Rebecca, whom I think I've only seen maybe twice since she was 6 years old... and she's now in her 40s!

Matt and Rebecca both agreed it would be great to see us. And their agreed-up meeting location for today was Frederick, MD, which is only about 1.5 hours from up here near Harrisburg. I figured it'd be an easy day-trip down there for a late lunch today.

Alas, today's visit fizzled. Matt texted just as I was getting ready to leave. "Rebecca's really sorry but something came up," he explained. "She says today's not a good day."

Bummer. And especially bummer because it's not the first time this week a relative nope'd out of visiting with minimal explanation why. Three of my nieces basically ghosted us, leading to us leaving town a day and a half early on Tuesday.

Thanksgiving triplog #13
Camp Hill, PA · Wed, 26 Nov 2025. 12:30am.

We arrived in the Harrisburg, PA area this afternoon, a day early, after changing our plans when some of our visiting plans fell through. That means we now have five nights with my inlaws, Hawk's parents.

Ordinarily yellow flags would pop up about visiting anyone for this long, especially when we're staying in their house. But Hawk's parents are pleasant people, their minds not dulled by age and their personalities not strained by sharp swerves to the political hard right, as is so common among many older people. And, because they still live in a big house, we have our own bedroom on the upper floor when we visit, so there's privacy when we sleep— and anytime during the day when we want to retreat to ourselves.

This evening the four of us went out to eat together at a new Japanese restaurant in town. They offer an all-you-can-eat sushi and hibachi buffet. The price is very reasonable— at least by our SF Bay Area standards. And going out for sushi together is a tradition we enjoy together when visiting my inlaws. You see, in my inlaws' family, only MIL like fish. FIL hates it, Hawk hates it, BIL hates it. So it's only when I visit that MIL has anyone to enjoy sushi with. Though it seems that now with this pretty good surf-and-turf restaurant open MIL should be able to cadge FIL into going there more than the once a year we visit. 😅

After dinner we stayed up late (back at the house), chatting. We were all up, chatting, until after midnight! Apparently staying up until midnight or later is a regular thing for MIL. She wrestles with some form of insomnia. But staying up late is tough for me, thirty years her junior! Still, I enjoyed the conversation this evening. And now I'm upstairs in our private room (where Hawk is already asleep) winding down for the night.