Thanksgiving

This year we tried something completely different. I finally decided it was time to stop

making Sally's family eat two turkey dinners within 8 hours of each other. So, we brought

pumpkin pies and coffee to their house around 6 p.m.

Levi was on the sofa sleeping, but when he heard us talking, he woke up and was still in full

swing when we left about two hours later. Everybody, except Ezra and Levi, was excited to

see the Plaza Lights turned on tonight.

I remember the first time I went to see the "turn on." It was with Jim and his family and

we parked on top of Swanson's. The view from their roof was amazing. We were all huddled

together because it was about 30 degrees! At that time we were a fairly large crowd:

Gladys, Jim's grandmother, and his mom, Betty. Also, Martha, Archie, and Nanett. And, the

newcomer, me. At that time, both Diane and Sally were still a "twinkle in God's eye."

Over coffee after the event, Betty made her annual observation. "I don't know why every

body makes such a big deal out of watching the lights come on. If you come down here at

5 p.m., you can see them come on any night of the week until the middle of January."

Because our group was smaller this year, I ordered a full Thanksgiving dinner from Hen

House. All I had to do was bake the turkey (for 3 hours) and microwave or bake green beans,

dressing, carrots, sweet potatoes and gravy. The easiest part of all were the cranberries:

we sliced the jellied Ocean Spray and a cranberry-orange relish came with the dinner.

I think next year, I will go back to making my own dinner, because the pre-arranged

dinner actually took as much time and energy as starting from scratch. With apologies to

the Bard, perhaps I can end with my own observation:

Double, double, toil and trouble

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Eye of newt and hair of dog

Cranberries growing in the bog.

Oven roast, smoke, fry or bake,

My annual bird I ought to make.

But the pamphlet said, "Just re-heat.

Take the burden off your feet."

What the grocer fail to mention:

A half-baked turkey needs more attention

Than his fresh cousin ever did!

Happy Holidays in the making,