Thanksgiving

One of the things that happens when you relocate 2100 miles away from your family and friends is that the old familiar traditions that were part of the fabric for your life become altered in dramatic ways.

Thanksgiving was the first major holiday that I spent in a new place. And frankly, I had no idea how it was going to go down.

No longer was Neil's mother's house to be the focal point where his family and my family converged on Thanksgiving.

No longer were Tony and Neil to discuss conspiracy theories around the dinner table or Ariana and Michael to look through each other's portfolios in front of the fireplace.

No longer were our mothers to chat over tea and pumpkin pie.

And no longer were Roma and I to brave the typically nasty, rainy, and raw weather to take Emi out for a walk and use that private time together to bond as sisters.

Ariana was invited to share Thanksgiving with Joe's family. So that left Neil and me to fend for ourselves.

Living in a new place far away from our families was going to require a new interpretation of the holiday, and perhaps a totally different departure from what we were accustomed to.

Because the 26th was also a Baha'i holy day (Day of the Covenant), Neil and I were going to go to a fellow Baha'is apartment to observe the holy day and enjoy a turkey diner. (That would certainly count as a radically different departure from our accustomed way of celebrating Turkey Day!) However, that event was canceled due to lack of interest.

So it looked like Thanksgiving was going to be just another day for Neil and me after all.

But along came Merry to save the day. She graciously invited Neil and me to come to her home in Brownfield to share Thanksgiving with her family.

Yay! We were going to have an actual sit-down family Thanksgiving feast!

In order not to appear empty-handed, I made what seemed like a promising recipe - Sweet 'n' Spicy Sweet Potatoes Recipe. (We were going to bring that dish to the Day of the Covenant, so I already had the ingredients.)

Well, things did not go according to plans as I hoped.

For one thing, I could have sworn that I had cayenne pepper. But when I looked in the cupboard, it wasn't there. No way was I going to drive down to the store, not the day before Thanksgiving. That would have been asking for trouble.

I was afraid that the crushed red pepper flakes would be a bit too hot for Neil. So I had to make do with Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce. (I had to put in a generous amount before I could even begin to taste the barest hint of heat.)

After coating the sweet potato wedges with the sweet and spicy syrup, I saw that there was still a lot of syrup left over. Not wanting it to go to waste, I cut up the last 2 potatoes that I had and coated them. Because there was still more syrup left, 2 cut-up onions joined the spuds.

When I took the coated veggies out of the oven in order to stir them halfway through the roasting, the smoke detector went off. That was when I realized that I set the oven to 375 degrees instead of 350. I turned it down to 325 and prayed that the veggies would be saved from burning.

Every few minutes or so, I would have to jump up out of my chair and furiously wave a towel underneath the wailing smoke detector.

Well, the veggies came out OK. They weren't as good as I hoped. But they were edible and passable enough not to be embarrassing to bring to someone else's house.

At this point, it was looking as though I was going to be driving to Merry's alone. You see, Neil was coming down with something. He was experiencing stomach problems, aching joints, and a 101.2 fever.

Google Maps says that Merry's house in Brownfield is 1 hour and 2 minutes away from my apartment in Lubbock. Actually, the drive was more like 45 minutes, and that was driving at or below the speed limit.

I was warned about the speed traps in Ropesvile, which was about halfway between Lubbock and Brownfield. And sure enough, somewhere between the county line and the center of town, I saw a cop pass me on the left and flash his lights behind a car that was 3 cars ahead of me. And the thing was, that car could not have been going that much over the 70 mph speed limit. Are speed limits that strictly enforced in Texas?

Because Texas is still a whole new experience for me, I rather enjoyed my drive out to Brownfield. Because I was traveling west, I was driving way from the escarpment and further into the Llano Estacado (Staked Plains). So rather than seeing the canyons that are east of Lubbock, all I saw were flat plains which were mostly cotton fields. (I love that Texas big sky.)

The trip went by quickly, and soon enough I was at Merry's front door. As I arrived, her 2 kids Lena and Andy were outside peeling potatoes.

Merry is a big animal lover, and it was nice to once again be in a house filled with critters. In Merry's case it was 3 dogs and 4 cats.

In fact, the first animal face that I saw belonged to this darling little girl. I saw Pumpkin looking out the window as I approached the front door.

I got to meet the rest of the furry family after I went in.

Here's the family: Andy, Lena, and Merry with Gabe the very happy Golden Retriever.

We watched part of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and the National Dog Show while the turkey finished roasting.

Once the food was done and Merry said a prayer, we sat down to a lovely dinner of roast turkey and gravy, dressing (always a favorite), potatoes, corn, Merry's famous family apple salad (really tasty!), hot rolls, my sweet and spicy offering, and pumpkin pie with Cool Whip.

The house was very quiet. The turkey made the kids sleepy, and Lena sacked out on the couch with Inky the black Lab (who so much reminded me of my Gomez). Merry and I chatted while the kids napped or quietly played on the computer.

5 hours after I arrived, it was time to leave. I wanted to make sure that I had plenty of time to get back home before the sun set. In fact, the sun did its final dance on the horizon as I pulled in front of our apartment.

I gave Neil his platter of Thanksgiving fixings and then put on Emi's harness to take her out for a walk.

And as I was walking the dog, I realized that one of the things that I liked about Thanksgiving - any Thanksgiving - was that it felt like a Sunday. And what was really neat about that was that 3 more "Sundays" followed it.

The whole rhythm of life changes at Thanksgiving. And sure the day after Thanksgiving may be this one massive commercialized consumer feeding frenzy that opens the Christmas shopping season for many people, but to me it's a time to enjoy a temporary disengagement from the mad rush of every day living.

Maybe I'll quietly stay home and address Christmas cards.