Intro:
This coming Thursday, 26th November 2020, will be Thanksgiving in my country. And what a strange one it will be for many, if not most, of us.
My dearly beloved ex taught me how to truly enjoy Thanksgiving. The first year we were married, he went out and bought a 2,000-pound turkey, a bushel of spuds, and I don’t remember what all. It was great—except for one thing. He never asked if the kids or I liked all that usual stuff. We didn’t and don’t. He cooked the turkey on the BBQ, and I cooked the veggies on the flat-topped wood stove. What we didn’t know was that the neighborhood was without power, or we would have invited everyone over. As it was, we had leftovers for the next millennium—or close to it.
The next year, I asked what he wanted for Thanksgiving. Neither of us wanted a repeat from the year before. He had it handled, he assured me. The kids were worried, but I assured them that a. he had it handled and b. there was a fresh loaf of bread and a new jar of peanut butter if worst came to worst. About time to eat, he ushered us into the car and drove to a restaurant. We had the choice of ordering off the menu or going through the buffet which had the usual turkey and trimmings and ham and trimmings.
To be honest, it was the best Thanksgiving Dinner I had ever had. Everyone got to eat what they wanted, there was no mess for me to clean after, there were no leftovers to eat for the next 500 years. I was, truthfully, thankful.
It was also the first in my new and enjoyable yearly tradition. I don’t ‘do’ Thanksgiving Dinner. If I really want a big dinner and trimmings, I go out to eat, usually with friends. For years, I’ve gone out with other single people, to a restaurant where we can eat what we want, and no muss, no fuss, and no leftovers. Though some of my friends buy a small turkey roast to pop into their oven as we leave, so when they get home, they have leftovers for a few and reasonable number of days.
This year, Covid-19 is the uninvited guest. I will not be joining friends or family at their home or a restaurant. I will probably have beans for supper. (It’s ok, I happen to like beans) and I will be thankful that I am still getting up in the morning and looking down at the grass, that I have beans to eat, that my children, my friends, my family are safe and so far, Covid has pretty much left us alone.
Through the years, I have come to realize, that for me, the traditional Thanksgiving Day rituals mean less and less. This year I realize just how much less and less. Not that I’m not thankful for my blessings, I am. And they are legion.
Quill and Parchment, an online literary magazine, printed my poem, Thanksgiving Day. It’s my take on all my Thanksgiving Days. You may read it here.
My friend, Thomas Hubbard wrote “Thanksgiving for the rest of us”—Thomas is Miami and Cherokee Native American with some English and Irish tossed into the mix. Check out his poem, here, for a different take on what this holiday means.
And, last, but no means least, this video came in from a friend of mine, please spend a couple minutes watching it. If you’re reading this on your phone, it may not show up unless you go to the website, on your phone or computer. There is a video below. Honest. Trust me.
Give thanks for the breath you have, the love you have; give thanks for the opportunity to show love to others—your family, your friends, your country. Make a small sacrifice this year so you won’t have empty chairs at the table next year.
Entertainment:
Netflix: Have started another South Korean series, The Good Detective. I think it’s going to be dark, but I’m not all that far into it. All I know so far is an innocent man was framed, and sentenced to die, and certain people want him to do so. Enter, the Good Detective. In the meantime, I’ll watch it, and be thankful for the eye candy 😉
Amazon Prime: Binged season one of Tales from the Loop, a somewhat dystopian SciFi 8-part series. The story takes place in the fictional town of Mercer OH, a town built above ‘the loop’ a scientific research area. Strange things happen above the loop, and these are 8 stories. Time travel, parallel universes, sentient robots—all there. The robots are kind of fun. There wasn’t a lot of relief humor, but I was told the end of the series tied things up. It did. Sorta. I still have lots of questions, it’s not a Happy Ever After kind of story, but very well acted, costumed, and directed (Jodie Foster even directed at least one episode. As it turns out, my favorite of the 8.)
I imagine there will be lots of things on the telly to watch this coming weekend—movies, games, maybe even parades? Some might be encore performances.
Books:
I’ve slowed down on reading books though I’m working through two novels and some poetry. Oh, and Peter Stzrok’s book is still on my bed. And, I have been working on a couple of my completed novels, going through and picking up nits, etc. Who knows, they, too, may be picked up by a publisher some day.
Marking the Hours, my collection of poems, should be available on Amazon or from the publisher today or tomorrow.
Outro:
Have a Great Thanksgiving. Eat that for which you are truly grateful (hmmm, maybe I’ll make some kimchee!) and enjoy, learn to Zoom if you haven’t already, and eat with your friends and family at your computers with each other 😉 I’ll have the beans, and maybe kimchee, and you can have the turkey and tomato aspic. Oh, you can have the mashed potatoes, gravy, and green been casserole, too. Enjoy. Bon Appetit!
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