Today is Black Friday, a day when a large percentage of the population teems into the stores and shops in a frenzy of avarice and greed like a swarm of piranhas stripping a side of beef. I think I’ll just stay home and blog, eh?<\/p>\n
Yesterday was Thanksgiving.\u00a0Roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, creative varieties of sweet potatoes, stuffing, savory gravy, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, varieties of rolls and breads, pumpkin pies and cakes are staples of this all-American holiday. But you know that.<\/p>\n
I was invited to Allen and Dana’s home to share the holiday. Allen is the drummer (excellent<\/em>)\u00a0for Top Shelf, a band I’ve been associated with for nearly 20 years. I was grateful for the invite; otherwise my Thanksgiving, like last year, would have been carry-out in front of the TV.<\/p>\n When\u00a0I arrived, the atmosphere, a humid, \u00a0redolent,\u00a0intoxicating miasma, so familiar, so exciting to the senses,\u00a0immediately enveloped me.\u00a0 Adjacent and open\u00a0to the kitchen was the dining area\u00a0backed by\u00a0floor length windows\u00a0with an expansive\u00a0view of the snow-blanketed\u00a0back yard.\u00a0Tables were set.<\/p>\n Al’s parents, an aunt and her son, Al’s and Dana’s four teenage children, and their dog (his name escapes me atm) were already\u00a0present.\u00a0The Thanksgiving dishes were warming, the bird still in the oven, the little popper button stubbornly refusing to pop. “Do you trust those things,” Al’s dad asked him. “Nope,” was the reply and Al got a roasting thermometer, opened the oven, and POP<\/em>!, the button chose that moment to release. Serendipity? Read on . . .<\/p>\n Al removed the turkey from the oven and placed it on the counter. It was beautiful, golden brown, picture-perfect! “This is the biggest turkey we’ve ever done,” Dana said as she got her phone out to take a picture of the perfect\u00a0bird. Al assembled an electric carving knife and\u00a0proceeded to slice\u00a0a plateful of turkey.<\/p>\n Two eight foot tables, the ones with the folding legs–“bingo” tables I call them, with matching table cloths were positioned lengthwise together in the dining area. The places were carefully\u00a0set with attractive pottery plates and shiny silverware. Glasses at each place\u00a0setting\u00a0were filled with ice and beverages. There were cute floral centerpieces, condiments, and everything looked very nice. The platter of turkey was placed upon one of the tables and the side dishes were taken from the warmer and put in place. There wasn’t\u00a0anywhere on either table to put anything else and still have room to eat, the feast was ready.<\/p>\n Everyone began to gather around the table to say grace when, all of a sudden, there was a CLICK<\/em><\/span> sound and the table with the freshly sliced turkey on it collapsed on one side, its burden sliding\u00a0gracefully onto the floor! Apparently the latch\u00a0on one of the\u00a0folding legs\u00a0wasn’t completely secured.\u00a0\u00a0 \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n At first no one said anything. The looks of shock, dismay,\u00a0even horror,\u00a0on the faces of the participants was priceless though not too funny at the moment.\u00a0 Give Al and Dana credit here because there was no screaming or wailing. What can you do once you’ve spilled the milk? Clark Griswold couldn’t have handled the situation better.<\/p>\n My first thought was, “Damn! I wish I’d caught that with my camera.” A viral video if I ever saw one! In an attempt to mollify the situation, I commented, “If this hadn’t happened to us<\/em> it would have been hilarious.” A couple people agreed, maybe even a chuckle,\u00a0but no one laughed.\u00a0\u00a0 \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n The shock wore off and the cleanup began. The dog, a beautiful golden retriever, to his extreme credit, laid on the floor behind the table watching the scene play out. He didn’t move a muscle toward the feast on the floor. I can’t help but wonder what the patient pooch, a smart dog incidentally, was thinking. Something like, “THANKSGIVING, YEAH!” maybe? There was a lot of turkey on the floor that would probably default to our well-behaved canine after the celebration, eh?<\/p>\n It occurred to me it was probably a good thing my friends\u00a0had\u00a0roasted their largest turkey ever. We managed to get another plateful of turkey off the remnants of the bird not sliced and while no one got stuffed with turkey we all had some.\u00a0Most of the side dishes were spared as they were on the other table so it was far from a total loss.<\/p>\n The stuff of Thanksgiving is traditional and a prominent factor in celebrating the holiday. However, I believe the most important thing about Thanksgiving is the gathering. Material possessions, while comforting and nice, can disappear in a heartbeat. What do you have left after something like that?\u00a0Possessions can be replaced.\u00a0Family and friends, irreplaceable, are the most precious privilege \u00a0of our lives. That’s what I think Thanksgiving is all about.<\/p>\n On that count, Al and Dana’s Thanksgiving dinner was a tremendous success, in spite of the slight digression into a real-life National Lampoon vacation movie.<\/p>\n I’m sure the great turkey slide of 2014\u00a0will become an icon\u00a0in the family journal. I can hear Dana or Al, at\u00a0some\u00a0Thanksgiving in the future (or whenever<\/em>), saying, “Remember Thanksgiving 2014 when the table fell?”\u00a0I bet it comes up every year! I’m pretty sure they’ll have a good laugh about it then.<\/p>\n As far as Thanksgiving goes for me, I’m grateful to be living in the USA and for friends like Al and Dana.<\/p>\n I think the dog will have the last laugh! “THANKSGIVING! YEAH!”<\/p>\n \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today is Black Friday, a day when a large percentage of the population teems into the stores and shops in a frenzy of avarice and greed like a swarm of piranhas stripping a side of beef. I think I’ll just stay home and blog, eh? Yesterday was Thanksgiving.\u00a0Roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, creative varieties of sweet … Continue reading The Great American Turkey Slide!<\/span>