Thanksgiving

Funny, in all these years in posting blogs, including holiday-themed blogs, I’ve yet to post one on Thanksgiving.  Well, it’s clearly time.

 Here’s another “American” holiday, in this case associated with those thankful Pilgrims who survived to thank God for good food and friendly Indians.  But people everywhere can express gratitude and appreciation, virtues I hardly imagine are unique to Pilgrims.  Speaking of Pilgrims, I found out that they made a movie of Solomon Kane, Robert E. Howard’s bad-ass Pilgrim character.  Now if only I could find it….

 Dad.  My father used to cook the dinner.  He knew where to get the turkey, made his own stuffing, and got the production going in time for the dinner.  There was never any drama, emergencies, stress, or any doubt that he would successfully achieve the Dinner.  And he repeated this impressive task for Christmas dinner again a month later.  We can only hope to emulate him now that he’s gone: R.I.P.

 Turkey.  Clearly the centerpiece of a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner is the turkey.  I zone out about the sizes and simply focus on my preference: the white breast meat.  You can have the drumsticks – 2, 4, 6, 8 (?? Is it a turkey or a spider?), however many a turkey might have nowadays. 

 Stuffing.  I actually like the stuffing more than the turkey itself.  Yum yum.

 Others.  Mashed potatoes are fine, but I could do without cranberry sauce or pumpkin pie.

 Football.  NFL, not college.  In my case I get to see the Lions lose, but they are rarely a competitive threat to my beloved Vikings, more a target of pity than scorn.  What the Cowboys do is not my concern (unless it’s beating the Packers or Bears).  I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Vikings play on Thanksgiving (“Thank Odin this Vinland is ripe with ample game and friendly Skraelings!”).

 Macy’s Thanksgiving’s Day Parade.  I practically never watch this.  I’ve never been in Manhattan at this time; the closest was Merrick, Long Island in the 70s.  My Dad would put the parade on TV in the morning as he was making his initial preparations.  The balloons are interesting and charming – intriguing to see which characters are deemed worthy of balloons.  No Asterix?  No Refridgerator Johnny?  No Iron Maiden Eddie?  No AC/DC Whole Lotta Rosie? As you imagine, the balloons are mostly for kids’ entertainment and thus predictably wholesome.  Likewise for the fur-wrapped commentators, offering comments so dull and wholesome they’re calculated to put everyone right back to sleep again.  And don’t get me started on the marching bands (too late!).  If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.  They all have the goofy band uniforms (vaguely reminiscent of War of 1812 uniforms), majorettes twirling batons and wearing way too much, the goofy Sousaphones (“Activision reports sluggish sales of Sousaphone Hero”), and the predictably dull John Philip Sousa marches, with the exception of “Liberty Bell”, probably more infamous as the theme of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” (chosen because “Liberty Bell”, by that time – 1969 – was in the public domain).  So this particular school, from Midwest Nebraska or Idaho finally managed to get its marching band – which looks exactly like all the others marching down the street in Manhattan – to the parade?  Whoopee for them, it’s their 15 minutes of fame!  But no one else need pay much attention.   Here’s an idea – instead of sending your marching band to the parade, how about sending your high school football team to play the Lions or Cowboys?  Even odds of beating the Lions…but seeing how the Cowboys almost beat the Saints, that game would be one I’d rather avoid.

 College.  Back at University of Maryland, the Thanksgiving weekend was too short to justify a trip back to Paris (winter break was 4 weeks, and summer break was, of course, the entire summer) so we’d have to hang tight and stay in the dorms, which were empty and dark.  Freshman year (1987) my Mom came into town and helped me buy a Fender Stratocaster.  Sophomore to senior years, my buddy Jean (John) came down from Boston U. (his mom was also in Paris) and joined Phil and my brother for dinner with my aunt and uncle over at Skyline – just down the street from where I live now.

 Dave.  My University of Maryland colleague who moved back up to Long Island after graduation in 1990 and has remained on The Island (with all organs, save maybe his liver, intact) ever since.  One of his sisters lives in Falls Church close to me, so for a few years he’d come down to visit his family there.  The Friday after TG would be spent seeing a movie, buying CDs or comics, and otherwise catching up on politics and music since the prior year.  Now his TG plans tend to involve Florida (no, no voting!) so my Fridays are back at the office where the secretary growls about being there instead of the mall.