Weekend Plans Post: Thanksgiving (American)
A re-run from last year:
Every year at Thanksgiving, I listen to this song again:
A wonderful self-indulgent romp through nine-and-a-half minutes of a guy who listened to Bob Dylan and said “I could do that” and, you know what? He almost can.
This Thanksgiving we’re going over to the sister’s and will be enjoying the full catastrophe with everybody. Last year we didn’t. Last year we were distancing safely. This year? Heck, yeah! I’ll bring the pie! Just pumpkin, this year. I was specifically requested to not bring three different kinds of pie and DEFINITELY do not bring six because you resented being told to not bring three. The nephew is coming back down from university and I’ll get to hear stories about his sophomore year and I’ll bore him with a story about mine and we’ll all sit around laughing and deliberately *NOT* talking about anything political and making jokes about football and college girls and about how much better this year is than last year was.
We might make the kiddos watch this clip from WKRP:
Tell them about watching it live. Tell them that it’s based on a true story. Tell them that the 70’s were so much better when it came to radio promotional gimmicks. Better music, too.
And eat way too much and take a nap on the couch and take home tupperwares full of leftovers and prepare myself emotionally for Christmas Music.
This year is so much better than last year, I’m reeling.
So… what’s on your docket?
(Featured image is Super Alice, awakened from a nap. Picture taken by Maribou.)
We’re heading out to one of our oldest friends’ house for Thanksgiving… friends we’ve known since the first days of marriage, who we raised babies with, hoped they would marry someday, but realized rather that we’d made them all brothers and sisters… so more like going to family’s house, I guess.
The family family got together last week for Mom’s 80th, which was good because none of us – including Mom/Dad – live where we grew up and none live closer than 8-hrs to the nearest sibling. Sometimes I reflect on that; I mean, we had a great childhood, lived near (most of) our cousins where our Grandparents had immigrated to (Chicago). And yet all of us went off to college and didn’t come back. Well, my brother came back eventually and settled into running the family business. But then my parents left him. We can’t claim that the ‘small town’ made us do it; we had all the benefits of the Second City (now, I guess the fourth, maybe fifth City?). I’m honestly not sure how or why; we all get along fabulously… the ‘crazy’ Uncles and Aunts are us and we’re much the happier for it. It was good to get together, I think it would be better if we were together.
When I think on it more, I can see the seeds that were planted with the greatest intentions by my parents: a sort of 60s-70s ethic of ‘go to school’ the world is *out* there… go explore it. A lovely thought, really. But not something I believe to be true anymore. The world *is* out there, and it is good. But the reason we explore it is to have stories to bring home. The seeds we’re trying to plant in our children are these: our friends are old, our home is old, the woods are old, we’re old and hope you grow old here too. When we settled into the property almost twenty years ago, one thing I’d read – I honestly can’t remember if it was Chesterton or Berry or someone else – hit me as I was planting trees with my 6 and 8 yr old sons, I said to them: “You don’t plant trees for yourself, you plant them for your grandchildren.” I expect its the sort of thing that doesn’t make much sense to an 8-yo. But it will. We don’t have any grandchildren yet; but the trees we’ve planted are growing.
Hope everyone has a peaceful Thanksgiving – the American civil religious holiday.Report
My mom’s doing the octogenarian thing this weekend. I always thought it was cool that she was born the same day as Jimi Hendrix.
Your sentiments here are absolutely lovely. Hit me up the next time you venture Chicago way.Report
Would be happy to.Report
This year is interesting in that there’s a World Cup going on and Kansas is playing today rather than traditionally on Friday (won in OT–Rock Chalk!). Also interesting in that 50% of the kids living in my house are contributing dishes to the dinner, while another is providing transportation for Granny to join us.
There…just isn’t as much for me to do as there usually is, so I’m making sure there’s plenty of coffee and I finally got around to setting that last clock back and I’m working out the calculus for sneaking into the kitchen to make the mashed potatoes about when the turkey is ready to come out (I’ll need those drippings for gravy, you know).Report
We planned the morning to allow us to get to the sister’s at 1PM for the feast. We went out of our way to make sure that we weren’t late (like we usually are).
So, of course, she texted us to say “show up at 12:30!”
So we were late. But the turkey couldn’t be beat and the cranberry sauce was out of this world and the pumpkin pie was perfect and it was a good dinner all around.
We also drive past a Best Buy on the way to and from there and, in years past, there have always been tents in front of it as we drove home.
Today there were no tents.Report
Between four of us we managed to somehow get everything to the table at the same time. Serendipity, baby!Report
Between the two football games, we watched Serbia lose.
Next time, guys!Report
I remain perfectly fine with Serbia losing everything they play ever. I’m only slightly more ok with Croatia occasionally winning things.Report