Over the last few weeks, I have been going for longer and longer walks. Four times a week, I’m crossing the five mile mark, which is long for me friends. It’s partly because I am training for a long walk (Yes, I have bravely put something on the calendar that I may have to cancel.)

But the other reason I keep going on long walks is to keep from losing my mind.

I am making a practice of listening to beautiful things when I walk: 

stories with wonderful characters, 

music that makes my heart soar, 

meditations on old, wise words, 

or just the sound of the leaves rustling in the trees or crunching underneath my feet. 

I am milking awe right now. When I find something beautiful, I pause and offer gratitude for it.

For dazzling colors.

For the smell of pine.

For a blue sky after weeks of gray.

For the sun on my face.

For bright red plumes on a brown songbird.

For the way a squirrel rips open a walnut shell.

I gather up leaves, bring them home and press them under stacks of books.

I set them on my prayer altar next to little bits of stone from mountain walking.

With every step, I remember that this earth is full of beauty, yes, even here in the fields and plains where you can’t see a mountain or a sea. I am still in a place of exquisite beauty.

I wonder at it as I watch a tiny snake wiggle its way across the trail.

I am in awe of how a deer can pass so close without my ever hearing his footsteps. 

I am forcing myself out on these near daily pilgrimages in search of nature’s wonder, because every night I am newly tempted to forget how beautiful the world is. 

When I see what is happening, when I see the sickness and death and violence, I am tempted to think that the world has lost its beauty. Or that it never really had any.

But no. It is still beautiful. And not just because the trees are changing colors, or because there are still a few forests and fields unspoiled by human hands.

It is also beautiful because there are people in it who are working to leave the world in better shape than when they found it. These holy caretakers are easy to miss, because they don’t seek to hold our gaze like the destroyers do. 

But they are here. They are feeding people. They are sending books to kids in prison. They are working to free the prisoners. They are setting up tables full of diapers, formula and all kinds of gifts for those who need them. They are caring tirelessly for people who are sick or cut off from their families. They are telling the stories of those in poverty and then giving them a hand. They are creating communities who are taking care of each other. 

There are people all over the world who are living with their hearts forward. ALL LOVE. They work mostly unseen, just as Jesus taught.

There is a prison abolitionist I follow, who keeps saying that instead of focusing on the outcome of this week, we should have our eyes on our plans for the good we want to create next.

This is a version of something I have heard many wise people say in the last several weeks and months. 

If I only focus on what is easy to see, on what is happening, it is much harder to not live in fear, or despair. Or anger.

But if I think about what could be, and what I could create…if even for a few minutes a day, I take my eyes off of “the screen” and write about what I would most love to see birthed in this world, then I am ruled not by fear, but by love. And beauty.

Asking this question every day has been a powerful exercise for me:

What do I want to be a part of creating?

I know for sure that for me it involves walking.

And being outside.

What about you?

What do you want to be a part of creating?

When you look inside your heart, what is it that you would love to bring to the world that would make it better than when you found it?

One of my favorite verses is from Philippians 4 where we are told what to think about. When I say that I keep walking in order to not “lose my mind,” this is what I mean. When I am walking, it is easier for me to practice the discipline from these words:

whatever is true, 

whatever is noble, 

whatever is right, 

whatever is pure, 

whatever is lovely, 

whatever is admirable–

if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–

think about such things.

Think about such things. 

That’s my plan for this week. 

Even though I am not on the Camino de Santiago right now, as I was last year around this time, I am still on pilgrimage. 

Always searching for beauty, even in ashes. 

PS. I was interviewed last month by my dear friend and client, Jane Reeves, for her podcast Ferocious Compassion. It was a breath of fresh air to get to chat with her about many of the things I find beautiful, especially about walking.

The post Seeking the Sacred appeared first on Alison Chino.

In October, my mom and aunt came to visit while Simon was still on Fall Break from school. And we all four took a ride on a short riverboat cruise.

We boarded the Riverboat Twilight early one morning, while the sun was still rising.

My Aunt Jeanne had told my mom that a riverboat ride on the Mississippi River was something she’d always wanted to do, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Our boat, The Riverboat Twilight, was built in 1987, but it was made to look like a turn-of-the-century riverboat.

We thoroughly enjoyed all the little details that made it feel older.

It was already fairly cold in October, but we managed to find the sunny spots on the boat, usually on the side or the back so we were out of the wind.

We also had a dining room table that we hung out at plenty. We were served all our meals and several snacks on the boat, plus we played cards a lot at our little table for four.

As we rode up the river from La Claire, Iowa to Dubuque, Iowa, the captain would occasionally come on over the loudspeaker and tell us some bits of history about the river. I had no idea what a huge industry there is around the river, so we learned about the millions of dollars that are spent sending goods up and down the river, as well as the folks who work 24 hours a day in order to keep the channels deep and clear for the barges.

The trees were beautiful all up and down the river, and we got to see several bald eagles’ nests, as well as eagles flying.

If the captain spotted one, he would come on and tell us where to look.

There were tons of comfy rockers on the boat to sit in. The front of the boat was the coldest spot to hang out, so these chairs were empty mostly, but I imagine it would be a prime spot to sit during the summer.

These cruises run from spring until fall, and we were catching one of the last ones of the season.

We went through a couple of locks on our way up the river, but the water was so high this fall that we didn’t have to wait long inside them.

I think they said the difference in the water levels was only about five inches.

After being on the water all day, after dinner, we arrived in Dubuque.

We got off the boat in Dubuque and took a short walk along the river to a hotel where we were staying.

Our luggage, which we’d dropped off before boarding that morning, was already waiting for us in our rooms. (Such a treat!)

Before we got off for the evening, Mom and Jeanne made their way to the bow of the boat and had a little Titanic moment.

You have to squint to spot them.

From our hotel room, we watched our boat cross the river and dock for the night.

We only explored Dubuque a little bit. We walked around before it got dark and then the next morning we went to the museum for the Mississippi River before we got back on the boat.

Our tickets to this museum were included in our cruise so we quickly ran through and saw the river habitats, some very playful river otters, an old dredging barge, snakes and a restored cabin that used to be in the woods by the river.

We sort of popped into the museum as an afterthought because we had time after breakfast, but it was actually super impressive and way worth visiting. It was spread out over several blocks right near the Riverboat Cruise docking area.

We were back on the boat before lunch, so Simon was happy. It seemed like they were constantly serving food on the Riverboat Twilight.

For most of our ride back down the river, we sat in the back of the boat, in the sunshine of course.

Occasionally we would get up to get a better look at an eagle.

I loved spotting their white heads. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many eagles before.

We also sat inside and played lots more cards. We had live music inside on the boat for both days, but the second day we stayed in and listened to most of it. Hearing someone sing Proud Mary while you’re rolling down the river is essential, I think. Even better when it’s played on a banjo.

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our time on the Riverboat Cruise. Simon said it was his favorite part of fall break. I’m sure that was mostly because he got to be with Granjules and Aunt Jeanne. Super thankful to them for this fun fall adventure!

The post Snapshots of A Riverboat Cruise: A Ride on the Mississippi River appeared first on Alison Chino.

So another Chino fall break highlight was heading to Michigan for our first time ever.

(Check another state off of your list Simon!)

We drove over on Saturday morning and after a quick picnic lunch (from Blackberry Market, of course), we went exploring.

We hiked several trails where the forest floor turned to sand before reaching the shoreline of Lake Michigan

You know how I love a good trail.

Anna managed to find three or four great hikes during our time near Holland.

The forest provided a little shelter from the crazy winds.

But then the trees would open up onto these dunes and the wind about knocked us over.

It’s easy to forget that Lake Michigan is a lake. It feels like being at the seaside!

A cold seaside!

We stayed near this beautiful lighthouse (lovingly referred to as Big Red), which we walked to several times while we were there.

This photo reminds me how much of the weekend I spent wishing Simon would wear more clothes. Good grief.

It was so cold in the wind. You had to sort of lean in against it and brace yourself as you walked.

But even thought it was super chilly, it was so beautiful!

Later, we got to explore the town of Holland and Hope College, where my niece, Grace, goes to school.

The campus was gorgeous, with tons of cozy nooks for studying or chatting with a friend. We enjoyed seeing where Grace spends her days.

Then, on Sunday we went apple picking at Crane’s Orchards!

I brought home 40 pounds of apples.

After picking apples, we wandered over to the restaurant where they serve all kinds of apple treats and hot apple cider.

On Monday, after the college kids all went back to school (including Taido), Anna and I took the boys on another hike near Ottawa beach where we climbed a bunch of stairs to lookout over Lake Michigan.

It’s teeny tiny, but you can see the little red lighthouse from the other direction on this hike.

We warmed up after our walk with a trip to an Irish pub in Holland.

Simon was delighted to find shepherd’s pie on the menu,

but he informed me that it wasn’t REAL shepherd’s pie because it was made with beef instead of lamb, in which case it should have been called “cottage pie.”

(Thank you to our friend Claire for teaching Simon the difference when he was a wee lad!)

After lunch we did one more climb up a BUNCH of stairs.

This time it was to the top of a place called Mount Baldhead.

We went up one side of the hill on stairs and then ran down the other which was all sand.

And back out to the Lake!

Then we got lost on some sand dunes for a while before making our way back.

Up the hill we went again!

Our last night in Michigan, Anna and I walked down to watch the sunset on the beach.

It had been a warmer afternoon, so we stayed outside as long as we could.

We got up the next morning and walked to the lighthouse again before heading home.

It felt so good to walk so much with my sis…such a treat!

And of course, I loved bringing home bushels of apples as my Michigan fall break souvenirs.

The post Snapshots of Michigan: Apple Picking + Sand Dunes appeared first on Alison Chino.

Y’all, the autumn was so beautiful in the little town we lived in last year.

In the morning, you would walk to town and the hills would have a Scotland-like mist over them,

but the afternoons were usually gorgeous blue skies

and incredible color.

I walked in the woods almost every single day.

That seems crazy long ago now.

Crazy far away.

All last fall, I collected bright colored leaves.

I took photos on the blue days and the gray days and all the days in-between.

And I’m so glad I did!

I know Tübingen is covered in color again now, as are lots of corners of the world, but we are not seeing much fall color this year so far.

I always have trouble choosing a favorite season,

but the colors of autumn make it one of my favorite times of the year to be outside.

If you’re ever looking for a dreamy place to spend autumn,

I highly recommend southern Germany.

It rivals New England and other classic fall destinations for sure.

And if you go to Tübingen,

be sure to wander through the Schonbuch, a nature park and forest near and dear to our hearts.

The post Snapshots of Germany in the Fall appeared first on Alison Chino.

November arrived in Aberdeen all golden and glowing, but today at its close, it is icy and crisp.

I’ve stomped through lots of wet leaves this month, but today the leaves are frozen and crunching beneath my boots.

I’ve driven down to Aberdeen Beach in all sorts of weather this month to wander along the North Sea shore, mostly in shadow as the sun seems to lay low on the horizon all day long this time of year.

Here are a few glimpses of a November of Chasing Daylight on the beach, all bundled up from head to toe.

November 5th, 11am

November 13th, 10:30am

November 13th, 11:15am

November 16th, 3:27pm

November 26th, 1:23pm

I’ve loved framing my days of getting outside by Chasing Daylight this year. Every month has been a slightly varied challenge on the theme of getting outside in the light.

Tomorrow begins a season of wonder. I am finding new ways to celebrate Christmas this year since we will be spending the entire season in Scotland. It’s the darkest month of the year and part of embracing our quiet Christmas for me is that I want to keep on looking for the light in the dark.

So in keeping with Chasing Daylight, I will be looking for Stories of Hope throughout the month of December.

I look forward to sharing a different kind of light in this space over the next month, and of course, I will still walk outside, even in the dark.

The post Chasing Daylight November: Aberdeen Beach Days appeared first on Alison Chino.

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!

(That’s me waving to you from across the pond!)

Since I am not cooking a turkey or even baking making Grandmother’s rolls today, I thought I would take a few minutes to share a collection of the thoughts of my heart from the past week or so.

Because I am just a little sad that Black Friday has become such big business that we have managed to export it to the UK, I am framing my musings today with a title that is just my tiny little drop-in-the-bucket protest of my favorite holiday of all time (Thanksgiving) being co-opted into the start of consumer holiday frenzy.

Five Things I Wish We Would Do On Black Friday Instead Of Shopping. 

1. Continue Giving Thanks.

If you’ve made a giant meal today, you don’t have to cook tomorrow, so you have more time for practicing thanksgiving.

O give thanks to the Lord for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

1 Chronicles 16:34

Once upon a time I began a practice of gratefulness.

A simple ritual of writing down things for which I am thankful.

And friends, it is not an exaggeration to say that it changed my life.

Five years ago, I wrote these words about this practice:

One of the ways I know God is real is that when I ask at the end of a weary day that He would show me what to thank Him for,

He reveals to my heart the gifts I don’t have the eyes to see.

Need a little help. You can make this thanksgiving tree with your family! We’re doing this at our house today and throughout the weekend.

2. Prepare For Christmas.

There are so many other ways to get ready for Christmas than to shop. It seems like it becomes harder every year to make time for the practices that bring our hearts the most peace, hope and joy during this season.

Maybe ask the people around you how they are planning to let the light in to their Christmas season. I have a sheet of paper I’ve been using to brainstorm ideas for the holidays for the last several weeks. Anytime I think, “Oh I wish we would do that this year!” I write down whatever “that” is (ice skating, making cookies for neighbors, reading a family Christmas devotional every day, etc). This weekend I’m going to take that list and put the items on the calendar that I feel like we can fit in this year.

And if you must shop to prepare for Christmas, maybe think about how to shop mindfully? I think it would be lovely to set a challenge of only buying items that bring hope and love to others. Items from a Heifer or World Vision catalog. Or only buying fair trade. It may seem like such a small thing to hand someone a handmade trinket for Christmas instead of a new electronic, but it’s no small thing to the hands that made it.

3. Do Justice.

I have spent a lot of time this season reading about refugees and I’ve discovered something that I am having trouble understanding.

Just before WWII, when both the UK and the US were experiencing food and housing shortages, these two great nations together took in almost 200,000 Jewish refugees.

Today, when both of these countries are radically wealthy, they have committed to taking only 10,000 refugees each, and even that number is consistently facing reduction by legislation.

The crazy bit is that I think if any of us could go back in time and take more Jewish refugees (Anne Frank’s family was denied access to the US), we absolutely would. We would say, YES! Let them come. 200,000 was not enough. 

I can’t work out in my heart what the difference is between then and now.

During WWII, the messages posted all around our nations were about saving and stretching what we have to make it work.

Since 9/11, we have been bombarded with the falsehood that the most patriotic action we can take for our country is to spend more money.

It’s as if I am holding the two times in my two hands and wondering how we got from:

Save all you can and share with the refugee.

to

Spend even what you don’t have, but we have no room for the refugee.

Here’s a paragraph from the most recent briefing I received from World Vision UK about Syrian refugees:

2 million children have become refugees and 5.6 million children in Syria need life-saving assistance. As the crisis drags on, the situation is getting more desperate for families. Families are running out of savings and struggle to provide food, shelter or warm clothing. Many refugees now live on food rations worth only £9 a month, with the cost of living in Syria response countries similar to many Western countries. Many families can no longer afford to send their children to school. Outside refugee camps, only 6% of Syrian school age children in Lebanon, 44% in Jordan and 14% in Turkey attend school. Youth unemployment in Lebanon has reached 78%. Families are marrying off their girls early to help them survive, as well as risking dangerous migration opportunities to survive. Without further action, we risk losing a generation to unemployment, poverty, lack of education and hopelessness.

As the rhetoric in America increases about blocking entrance to refugees, I suppose I wish that at the very least, if we’re going to make it impossible to leave the country (that we ourselves are bombing), could we at least take all that money we were going to spend on a new XBOX, TV, iPhone and give it to improve the dire circumstances in countries like Lebanon, where there are now 1.5 million refugees.

4. Love Mercy.

Last week I read a book that rocked my world.

As is often the case when I read a book that takes me to a place I did not know existed and proceeds to break my heart, I can’t stop talking about it and and I want everyone I know to read it.

Bryan Stevenson is a lawyer who has spent his life seeking justice for those most desperate: “the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system.”

Just Mercy is a collection of stories from his years of doing this incredibly gut-wrenching work.

This may not be an incentive to read, but sometimes I would have to set the book down after I finished one of the stories just to take a deep breath through my tears.

Trina Garnett’s story was one of those. Her story was also told in a news article almost three years ago. And she took part in this powerful video from Muncy State Prison. She’s the one in the wheelchair who speaks at the end of the video. She’s been in prison for over forty years, after being sentenced to life without parole at the age of fourteen for starting a fire that resulted in the deaths of two children.

I walked away from reading Just Mercy with a sense that I need a greater understanding of what Stevenson describes as the four institutions that have shaped the lives of people of color in America:

The first three are: Slavery, A Reign of Terror, and Jim Crow.

The fourth is Mass Incarceration.

I’ll leave you with a quote about prison growth in America that I found wildly disturbing:

In the 1990s, America was opening prisons at a pace never before seen in human history. Between 1990 and 2005, a new prison opened in the United States every ten days. Prison growth and the resulting ‘prison-industrial complex’ -the business interests that capitalize on prison construction- made imprisonment so profitable that millions of dollars were spent lobbying state legislators to keep expanding the use of incarceration to respond to just about any problem. Incarceration became the answer to everything–health care problems like drug addiction, poverty that had led someone to write a bad check, child behavior disorders, managing the mentally disabled poor, even immigration issues generated responses from legislators that involved sending people to prison. Never before had so much lobbying money been spent to expand America’s prison population, block sentencing reforms, create new crime categories, and sustain the fear and anger that fuel mass incarceration than during the last twenty-five years in the United States.

5. Walk Humbly.

Of course, I can’t let the opportunity pass to include going for a walk on any list of activities.

But I’ve shared some heavy things.

When my heart is heavy, the best place for me to take it is outside.

To lift my eyes to the heavens and ask the Lord when He is going to come back?

To cry out to God for the brokenness in our world, but then to stand at the shore and wonder at how there is still so much beauty in it.

To Chase the Daylight even when the darkness is closing in.

Wishing you love, mercy, grace and peace today wherever you are! I’m thankful for everyone who reads my ramblings from my little corner of the internet.

XO

Alison

The post In The Pipeline: Black Friday Edition appeared first on Alison Chino.

Hello Beautiful Scotland in Fall!

The colors of the leaves right now are my consolation for 4:30 sunsets.

They are AH-MAH-ZING.

Every time I go outside, I take about fifty pictures of trees and leaves.

So here are my twenty highlights from the last ten days or so.

A spot discovered near Aviemore while visiting Cole last week.

Bennachie, one of our favorite hikes in any season.

Yellow Larch Trees in Bennachie.

Even the ferns are changing colors. Bennachie again.

Bennachie.

From Mither Tap in Bennachie.

We’ve had an unusual number of blue sky days lately.

Afternoon light on the larch trees in Kirkhill forest.

I first discovered these golden pine needles in Banff a few years ago. They are so happy to me. Yellow Christmas trees.

This is a forest preserve just outside of Aviemore.

We went on a hike after a big breakfast out at the Mountain Cafe in Aviemore.

Nethy Bridge. (I had a picnic near this spot with my Speyside Sistas last May!)

This trail is near the camp where Cole works in Nethy Bridge.

Just outside of Craigellachie.

A trail near the camp where Cole works.

Walking to church with Simon.

Our neighborhood.

Happy Fall Y’all! I hope you’re enjoying gorgeous colors wherever you are today!

The post Snapshots of Scotland in Fall appeared first on Alison Chino.

Family Hiking in the Lake District

While we were in the Lake District, we did five different walks together as a family. All of our walks were fairly “lightweight” compared to what many of the other hillwalkers we met were doing, but we were happy with doing shorter walks and taking breaks from the rainy weather in between.

All of these walks are very handy to Buttermere Village, where we we stayed at the Buttermere YHA. The first four are loop hikes that are right around four miles. On both Friday and Saturday, we did one walk in the morning and one in the afternoon. Then we did one more even shorter walk on Sunday morning before driving back home to Aberdeen.

Loweswater was our first hike on Friday morning. It was raining when we woke up, but it cleared off a little bit so we did not get too wet on this walk around Loweswater. This lake is a little further from Buttermere, so we drove our van over there to walk around the lake. The walks around the lakes in the Lake District were the kids’ favorites because they are always flat. Also it is very easy to map your progress when you can see the lake you are walking around the whole time. Simon loved knowing when we were halfway around on our lake walks.

Loweswater was also the least muddy (or boggy in British speak) of all the lake walks we came across. We found all the trails in the Lake District to be very well maintained, but this one was particularly so. On one side of the lake, you have to walk for a short distance on the road, but for the most part, the trail wanders right alongside the lake.

After lunch we stumbled on this hike that we think is called Steeple and Haycock, but all along we thought we were on the Rannerdale Knotts, so we were a bit confused. Both have trailheads on the road to Buttermere Village.

On this walk, two ridges run parallel along a deep glen that is cut by a river. We climbed one of the ridges and walked along a path that got steeper and steeper. It started to rain on us a bit and the wind was very fierce, so we decided to descend to the river and walk back through the valley.

I read later that you can make a loop back to the trailhead by continuing to follow the ridge and then the path cuts across and brings you back along the opposite one. We were glad to walk in the middle, which gave us a little break from the wind.

Of course, we met loads of sheep and found about fifty spots I would love to come back to on a sunny day and sit. Little patches of green right by the running water were calling my name.

However, the rain started to fall much harder towards the end and so we were sloshing through the grass back to the car as quickly as possible.

Thankfully we did not have far to go before we were back at the hostel, taking off our wet things and making soup for dinner.

The next morning we headed right back out into the falling rain, this time just a slight drizzle, and walked around the lake that was just outside our door, Buttermere.

The whole time we were in the Lake District, I marveled at the bright green grass and moss.

The autumn is a wonderful time to be in this area, especially if you don’t mind the rain. The colors made it worth our while to get a little wet.

Somewhere near this little brook, we stopped for a snack so that we could get in one more hike before a late lunch back at the hostel. The rain stopped for long enough for us to decide to stay out longer.

From Buttermere, it is easy to make your way over to Crummock Water, which is a much larger lake. Across the road from Crummock Water is the Rannerdale Knotts walk we were searching for the previous day.

You can ascend the ridge from Crummock Water and walk right along the top of the ridge all the way back to Buttermere Village.

Going up is a little bit steep but not treacherous. In the drizzle though, these rocks are a little bit slippery, so we were careful as we made our way to the top.

Once you reach the pile of rocks that is the highest point, the ridge opens up and is a wide grassy path the rest of the way down. The kids all took off running along the top of it.

I kept stopping to gasp at the views below. You can see both Buttermere and Crummock Water from the top, as well as the little Buttermere Village where you can stop to warm up with tea. Even though we were wet and cold when we finally got down to the village, the boys all chose ice cream over tea. They could not resist! Mary Polly and I had tea and scones though, and we took our time sipping it in the cozy cafe.

After our walk, it was back to the drying room with our clothes and boots. Everything was dry when we put it all back on the next morning to leave. We left the Lake District as great storms were blowing in all over England, so we were happy to be headed north.

Before leaving, we made one last quick hike to these falls, getting soaked in the process! We cut this last walk short, so we will have to come back and do it again. I will welcome the opportunity to return to this beautiful country! It will be fun to see it at another time of year and compare the colors.

Want to keep up with all of our travels? Maybe you’d like to subscribe to the Chino House by email.

The post Hiking in England: Family Hiking in the Lake District appeared first on Alison Chino.

I hope you are getting to see the leaves change where you live, because it is one of creation’s most spectacular displays.

Every year I am newly amazed.

How can the death of something be so beautiful?

Of course, one of the very best ways to enjoy fall color is to go camping.

And while I really love camping at all times of the year, autumn camping has a special place in my heart.

I don’t know if we are going to make it out for fall camping this year, but we are taking in as much color as possible by lacing up our boots on the weekends.

However there are still a few fall weekends left, so here is a little gift to get you going!

Our Chino House Camping Checklist.

This list is for car camping and camper camping.  One page is for your camping gear and the other is what you need for your camp kitchen.  Just download, print it out and get packing!

You might also find these camping menus helpful for planning a weekend getaway!

I know it’s Monday, but now you have all week to get yourself in gear for Friday afternoon.  So dig out that dusty tent and camp stove, and get ready to head for the hills.

Do come back and tell me all about your camping adventures!  And let me know what you think needs to be added to the checklist!  We’re forever evolving it!

Did you enjoy this post ?  Maybe you’d like to subscribe to the Chino House via RSS feed or by email. 

More about camping here.  More recipes here.  Also, find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!

The post Chino House Camping Checklist appeared first on Alison Chino.

Thanksgiving is my very most favorite holiday.

To me, it is full of everything a holiday should be. Quiet, gratefulness, stores closed and homes open, family, friends, cold weather, kids piled in spare rooms and basements, couches full to busting, and of course, food.

Lots of it.

A beautiful table, prepared by hands that have worked together with too many bodies in the kitchen, bumping against each other.

Excuse me, excuse me.  Coming through.  Will anything else fit in the oven?

And then another whole table, just for the desserts.

I can’t tell you how much I love it.  It is the fullest, most cherished day of the year for me.  And when I add up all my Thanksgivings from all of my 39 years, I am pretty sure I have enough love and warmth just within those precious days to say that I could check out right now and say that I had a good life.

Growing up we used to go to Castle Bluff (a camp in Northwest Arkansas) for Thanksgiving.  It was like going back in time.

Families from our church and other places around Arkansas would come and we would all bring pies and casseroles from home.  Daddy would fry a turkey, smoke a turkey and bake a turkey.  While he babysat his poultry, he would stand around in the cold with the other men and talk.  The mamas would sit around the wood burning stove and peel potatoes.

And the kids.

We ran hog wild doing whatever we wanted.

It was glorious.

We made the younger kids cry with our fairly rough rendition of Blind Man’s Bluff, a game where one person is in the middle blindfolded and the rest of you are circled around this poor child taunting them while they try to catch someone else to be it.

Seriously, how is that even remotely supposed to be fun?

We made the game more challenging by playing it in a room full of bunk beds.  Picture blindfolded children JUMPING from one bunk to another.  Little kids always cheated and peeked so I guess that’s why we never had a broken limb. My sister, Anna and I were usually in charge and I should also mention, almost never it.

We also played Kick the Can and Hide and Go Seek.  This was way before this camp had a climbing wall or a rappelling deck or modern plumbing.  We were basically running around in the woods.

Stay away from the cliffs! Those were the only instructions my dad ever gave us.

At night, we played marathon games of Bible Charades.  My parents had this one friend who was a drama teacher and she would do every bleeding heart in the Bible: Mary Magdelene, Mary, Mother of Jesus, Rahab, Ruth and Naomi and even Eve.  We laughed so hard at her that my side hurt. She would get up and we would just start shouting out women in the Bible.

In the middle of the night, after the big Thanksgiving feast, Anna and I would sneak into the kitchen (I use the term kitchen here very loosely) and eat pie and rolls until we made ourselves sick.

We talked our parents into letting us sleep in the rat-infested attic above the kitchen under the condition that our Grandmother slept up there with us.

To get up there, you had to crawl up onto the kitchen counter and pull down a trap door.  Then you would have to pull yourself up into this small A-framed attic space, using the attic floor for leverage while your legs dangled in the kitchen.  The process of getting into the attic was made easier by stacking ice chests on the counter, but we didn’t always have the foresight for that.

Needless to say, once we hoisted my poor Grandmother up there, she was loathe to come down again just to stop us from eating all the pie.  We loved her so much though that we were happy to bring her a piece when we climbed back up.

Of course then we’d have to climb back down and dig some Cool Whip out of the ice chest for her.  And find her a fork.  High maintenance, my grandmother.

We had to retire our Thanksgivings to Castle Bluff because everyone grew up and bought iPads with Game Apps, which are much safer than Blind Man’s Bluff.

Actually, we all just got so spread out as a family once we went off to college and got married and such that it became a journey just get to one of our houses for Thanksgiving.  There comes a time in your life when you just want to go home.

And so that’s what we do now.  We go home.  Only our Thanksgiving home has become my sister’s house in Illinois.  We gather there every other year in deference to the families we married into.

Since I am only with my sister and brother and their families every other year on Thanksgiving, we cheated this year and had a pre-Thanksgiving while my sister was in town last weekend.  This was an unusual treat brought about by some sad circumstances regarding my Grandmother’s health.  She is 89 and has been diagnosed with cancer this fall, so Anna needed to come and see her.  And make her some pie.

Together with my sister, my mama and my other sister, the one that’s married to my brother, we created a Thanksgiving menu around a beautiful Petit Jean Ham.

We used many of our old favorites and a few new ones too.  I always like to throw a little healthy onto the sometimes rather beige Thanksgiving table.

Thanksgiving Menu

Petit Jean Ham

Perfect Mashed Potatoes

Sesame Kale Salad

Not So Sweet Potatoes

Roasted Asparagus

Grandmother’s Homemade Rolls

Deep Dish Apple Pie

I also get to give one of my readers a Petit Jean Ham! The ham will be delivered right to your door step in a cooler.  All you have to do is wrap it up and warm it in the oven according to the instructions and your Thanksgiving Ham is ready!  It is the easiest part of the menu for sure!

All you have to do to be entered for the ham is leave a comment on this post.  Tell me your favorite Thanksgiving food or tell me a sweet Thanksgiving memory of your own! UPDATE: This giveaway is closed but I would still LOVE to hear your favorite Thanksgiving memory!

I will choose a random winner from the comments on Friday. Giveaway closed.  Delta Moxie, you are the winner of the Petit Jean Ham!  Yay!

The Petit Jean Thanksgiving Ham for this Thanksgiving Menu was provided by Petit Jean Meats, a local Arkansas company.  I am a member of their Blue Diamond Club, which basically means they send me products which I select and then share with you.  Subscribe to the Chino House via email (box on the top right of web page) so you won’t miss a recipe!

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