Clay’s Corner Post Thanksgiving Thoughts

Is it me or does it seem that all of the hype and wait for Thanksgiving has become greater than that of Christmas?   Well, I'll get back to you on that one. This past week was a blur. The planning, shopping and all of the other preps that precede a family gathering of this magnitude can take its toll on even the strongest of individuals. Planning is easy. Hitting the store, I was surprised that there was a sense of calmness in the other shoppers around me.

Going up and down every aisle and double and triple checking the list I check out and make my way to the car in the pouring rain.  It was in the middle of the trek across the prairie that I realized I forgot the Cool Whip.  So much for check list.  I must have passed it 3 or 4 time in the store.

Day before Turkey Day, I am busy getting all of my necessary items lines up in the kitchen so that when I do get started, there is nothing left to chance that it will be left out.   Cool Whip. Ugh.  Back to the store.  9pm and the big box store is empty.  I did how ever take time to watch two women returning two big boxes of cooked chicken.  Fried chicken on turkey day eve?   And at 9pm to boot?  Is there a restocking fee for that?   There were 100 pieces in those two boxes. Cool Whip.  Focus.

Find the Cool Whip.   Only Lite though.  Well once it is mixed with all of the other ingredients, you will never tell.  At least I hope you won't.  Back to the house and start again.   Finish and start relaxing. Reeling over and over to make sure it is all correct. If it is not now, it will have to be what it is.

Turkey day is here and I finish all of the required dishes I am asked to bring to the family gathering.   Smells so good in the Miller house.  In between dishes, there was enough time to make Blueberry Muffins and watch some of the Parade.   Did Scotty really not have the microphone up to his mouth when his song started?

Off to the family gathering and as we crest the hill leading away from the house, we see two boys walking down the road.   Not unusual to see this around here.  But what stuck out in my mind was that they were both holding a "Red Solo Cup."  I am positive it was Kool-Aid or Pop of some kind.   But now I have that Toby song on my mind.

The food was good, the talking was interesting.  The cleanup was a breeze.  Well since it was at my sister's house, I did not have any dishes to do.  Driving home, I reflected on all of the holidays in the past where there was many more people involved.  More family members that you could chat with or just sit and listen to.  Then it hit me like the ice on the tree.  A cold feeling.  We are now those people that others are sitting around listening to.  That generation for the most part is gone.

I wonder if any young ones were listening to us and taking a part of this day and storing it away for their memories and to have stories to pass on to yet another generation years from now.  If so I hope to be there and to eat some jello and listen to them.