I was at the grocery store the other day and saw that turkeys were on sale for 32 cents a pound. Holey Moly!! I can’t believe the holidays are zooming in already!! Wasn’t it September just a few days ago?? The older I get, the quicker the days \/ months \/ years seem to pass. A former boss of mine explained this to us years ago with a very wise (and funny) expression: \u201cAs the frogs say, time\u2019s fun when you\u2019re having flies!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soon I’ll be slaving over the turkey \/ hot dog \/ cottage cheese casserole\u2026 and of course the obligatory mac and cheese laced with pepperoni and pickled beets. Maybe some cream corn with pickled asparagus casserole\u2026 you know, the kind with the crunchy onions on top. Oh, and not to forget a couple cans of cranberry sauce stacked up in the middle of the platter to create an elegant presentation. Some folks even take the cranberry sauce OUT <\/em><\/strong>of the can!! Then the dessert trays: all those Twinkies to unwrap and place “just so” on the pizza platter… And OH!! Not to forget the Hostess Sno-Balls and Moon Pies. Kool-Aid in fancy plastic cups\u2026 you know, the see through kind. A feast fit for a champion cow pie flinger!<\/p>\n\n\n\n HUH?? Oh wait, maybe that was the dream I had after all those liverwurst, bacon, and salami sandwiches. Nothing like a few thousand grams of sodium nitrite to make a nicely hallucinogenic \u201cfree movie\u201d dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anywhooo\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Things have changed over the years… our daughter, son-in-law and grandsons will probably spend Thanksgiving with our son-in-law\u2019s side of the family. Doesn’t matter, because we all get together on the Sunday after Thanksgiving when I make our traditional meal with all the trimmings. Believe it or not, I love cooking all that stuff. I do the whole shebang: turkey (duh), bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, veggies, pie. All homemade except the pie crusts. I\u2019m just too lazy for that pie crust monkey business. My pumpkin pie is usually made from hubbard squash. Pumpkins are OK I guess, but hubbard squash has much more flavor\u2026 almost like sweet potatoes. Pie will be topped with real whipped cream sweetened with local honey. After stuffing our faces we\u2019ll decorate the Christmas tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ritual of preparing all the stuff gives me lots of time to reflect. Starting around Hallowe\u2019en, my Beautiful Girlfriend Wife Person would be cranking the Christmas music. I didn\u2019t mind it; but I\u2019ve always preferred quiet (or maybe some classical music) when I’m “in the zone.” Cook, reflect… cook, reflect. And now that I\u2019m \u201cgetting up there,” in my seventies\u2026 I of course have many, many memories. My family had lots of loss over the years. One of the most difficult to endure: this will be the second Thanksgiving since my Beautiful Wife left for the Great Beyond a year and a half ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the past several years we\u2019ve had the good fortune of spending Thanksgiving at our dear friend Ruthie\u2019s. Holy Moly that girl can cook. Of course; there are two who will be missing from Ruthie\u2019s Turkey Day: My Beautiful Honey Pie and our dear friend Lew (Ruthie\u2019s hubby).We all miss both of them terribly. However, we can still smile as we enjoy Brussels sprouts made specially in Lew\u2019s honor. Back then, Thanksgiving happened at our house or Lew and Ruthie\u2019s. The last year Lew was still here, it was my year to cook. Lew noticed I was making Brussels sprouts for dinner, and when I asked whether he liked them, and he emphatically used an expletive to describe his feelings: \u201cF*%$ NO!!\u201d We all had a very good laugh over that proclamation. Lew\u2019s passing shifted the traditional meal to Ruthie\u2019s house. Lew has been gone 17 years now (I can hear those frogs talking); and every year Ruthie makes the honorary dish named FN Brussels Sprouts. The initials FN were used to shield the youngsters (who are not so young now) from the profanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In spite of the challenges I\u2019ve faced over the past 18 months, I mostly want to say that I\u2019m a very fortunate human. So long as I keep that thought foremost in my brain, life is really very good. I get annoyed at all the commercial hoopla this time of year. However, I\u2019m getting much better at practicing the principle: \u201caccept the things I cannot change.\u201d I do my part in contributing to the family gift pile, but more importantly Thanksgiving kicks off a string of \u201cgratitude days\u201d for me. The holidays have a way of digging up memories of days long gone; and I get pretty mushy this time of year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I really am blessed beyond measure. Earlier this year, God (whoever they <\/em><\/strong>are) put an amazing woman in my life. We both know what a long, happy marriage is, and we both know what the loss of a spouse from such a union is all about. To top it off, before we met in person we both made really sure <\/em><\/strong>we had lots of things in common. Couldn\u2019t ask for a better person to share life with through the twilight years! On top of all that, I\u2019m loving retirement, I have a warm, safe place to sleep, plenty to eat, and I even have cars that actually work! All this is pretty luxurious stuff when you think about it. Although I don\u2019t have much extra I do my best to donate to folks who help those who are in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know it’s a bit early, but I sincerely hope all you turkey (and non-turkey) eaters out there have a simply marvelous Thanksgiving. And I truly hope that you are as blessed as I am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So here comes another Thanksgiving at Ruthie\u2019s house. One year she treated us to “Turducken,” but I don’t think the “duck” part went quite like this…<\/p>\n\n\n\n