Holidays at the Dren Lodge

nana's kitchen
teavana teapot & cups
hanging fruit baskets

Over the years, we've coined my parents' log home in Mt. Vernon the Dren Lodge. The primary reason of course being that it is a log home with a modern yet rustic appeal. It is not ... I repeat not a cabin, for all those out there that assume log homes and cabins are one and the same. Just sayin' .... 

rocking chairs on the porch



Joe, Sydni and I left from Cincinnati earlier today and made the short [3ish hour] drive up to Mount Vernon for the next leg of our Thanksgiving road trip. We arrived late afternoon, and immediately Miranda Lambert's song House that Built Me scrolled through my mind.

We pulled into the driveway and sat for a moment, thankful for another safe arrival, and stared up at the house in which I survived all my adolescent life events. My favorite dog is buried in the yard, and I did do homework and learn how to play guitar in my bedroom, which coincidentally is in the back of the house. For the time being, I pretend that nothing will ever change in the sense of my parents living there and us coming to visit. The smells of food cooking, potpourri drifting, and the natural aroma of the wooden carved walls and banisters isn't simply inviting, it's familiar. It's home for me. I went around taking pictures of some of the small details my mom is constantly updating to add to the whole picture. She does such an exquisite job of tying details to bring a room together, then tying rooms together to make a house into a home, and I admire her constant vigilance in maintaining such a cozy environment. 

of course, brought some knitting!

I'm sad to report that although my gorgeous sister Heidi and my nephew Jonathan did make it over for dinner, games, and half a movie, we didn't get to take photos. As has been the case over the past few years, every time I come back to the Dren Lodge, my allergies seem to get the best of me, and by night's end leave me with itchy, red, swollen eyes and a stuffy nose. I somehow survive each bout, but I was certainly in no shape to be photographed. Bummer. In any case, we had quite the feast; mom got ahold of some custom-cut turkey that she hugged around cranberry stuffing to transform the whole thing into a delicious stuffed turkey loaf, complete with sweet potatoes, green beans, and all the other trimmings you could hope to find at a country Thanksgiving table. Delicious. 

pappy & his grandkiddo



After dinner, we attempted to play a game that Mom found, and later plopped on the couch and surfed through channels until we found one of the Lord of the Rings movies that we muted in order to do voice-overs. This is a game that is definitely way more fun when you have someone else on the same brainwave, and also when the movie coincidentally pans out in real time to your new script. Heidi and I took full advantage of re-writing about 30 minutes of the movie before Sydni kidnapped the remote and changed the channel. We decided to call it a night, so Heidi and Jonathan scooted on out, and we're about to hit the hay after day 1 here at the Dren Lodge. Tomorrow, we're going out somewhere, which remains a mystery trip at the wishes of Mom & Dad. Allergies, allergies, please go awayyyyyy.

G'Nite!

xo | cmd