~1~
Low expectations are often the secret to holiday survival, and we certainly had appropriate expectations heading into this Thanksgiving. For a while now (since Easter? Fourth of July? Labor Day?), we have known we would just have the four of us for dinner, so we had time to get used to the idea.
I have to admit that as Thanksgiving drew closer, though, I secretly started getting excited about having what we wanted for dinner, when we wanted to have it. I started trying to view it as an opportunity to make it a Thanksgiving that we would enjoy—and remember.
~2~
One of my sons doesn’t care for traditional Thanksgiving fare, so I told him he could pick a dish to add to the table that he knew he would like. It’s not that he’s a picky eater. He just doesn’t happen to enjoy the standard Thanksgiving foods. And he was 25% of the guest list. He might as well have a decent dinner.
He couldn’t seem to think of anything he really wanted to have on the table, so I suggested that we order some lo mein from our favorite Chinese restaurant. Both boys thought this was a fantastic idea.
So, John and I ate a delicious “Chef’s Thanksgiving” feast from Bluestone that just needed minimal assembly and heating, and our boys enjoyed lo mein.
I joked that the Chinese food even came in Thanksgiving-themed boxes because they said, “Thank you.”
~3~
Our sons and I did see my parents, two of my sisters, and my local nephews and nieces during our Thanksgiving food exchange. I brought cranberry sauce, my hot broccoli dip, chips, and turkey butter. They had rutabaga, carrot and onion casserole, and pumpkin pie. I could write an entire poem about my mother’s pumpkin pie. It was the perfect ending to a delicious meal.
We waved and stayed socially distant outside. Sometimes I wonder how my little nieces and nephews are being shaped by this time—the baby, who is almost 18 months old, knows us mainly from FaceTime and Zoom. But I know we will come through this and be able to be together.
~4~
When I was searching the house for something to use as a Thanksgiving centerpiece, I found two pinecones.
Then I spotted fortune cookies and wondered whether they would work as little turkeys. I had four that weren’t broken, so I made four little fortune turkeys for the center of our table. We each opened one after the meal.
The fortunes didn’t have much to offer, but it was fun and quirky and memorable and a little silly, which is basically all we can expect of a 2020 holiday celebration.
~5~
We don’t normally decorate for Thanksgiving, but we have had an “It is your birthday.” banner hanging up since we are in Buettner Boy Birthday Season here (one is mid-November and the other is mid-December). So, the boys and I had discussed changing the sign to, “It is Thanksgiving.”
I folded some paper over the words and added the word Thanksgiving.
“I don’t know,” I said to our 10-year-old. “It doesn’t look very good.”
“Isn’t that the point?” he said.
And so we left it as it was—in all its disappointing glory.
~6~
We had planned to have sauerkraut in the usual unadorned way I serve it. Then I noticed we had some Ostrowski’s bratwurst in the freezer. And I remembered my mother over-ordered caraway seeds back in March. I asked if I could have some. On Thanksgiving morning, I filled the crockpot with bratwurst, sauerkraut, diced apples, caraway seeds, and a little beer.
The whole day the house smelled wonderful—I mean, if you like the smell of sauerkraut and bratwurst. Since we didn’t have a turkey roasting all day, it helped us get in the spirit of the festivities before dinner.
I even gave the finches a feast of their own—with rutabaga, blueberries, and sprouting seeds. But all they wanted was their ordinary crushed hard-boiled egg and corn on the cob. Those are their favorites.
~7~
Our school system was the victim of a ransomware attack last week, and virtual schooling is on hold. We were all delighted to have the day off from school on Thanksgiving Eve, but I am worried about the future. When will our children get to go to virtual class again? How much has been lost? How long will the children miss out on learning?
So many questions. No answers have funneled to me yet.
But it’s a good reminder to me that when you can be sad to lose something you weren’t even initially happy about.
And I really wish I had printed out our fifth grader’s multi-chapter story, The Finches’ Revenge.
Read more quick takes at Kelly’s blog, This Ain’t the Lyceum, and have a wonderful weekend.
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