Thanksgiving 2012
Hugh Abner (Sonny) – November 22
My Thanksgiving note of last year was kind of themed around the traditional value which such a day can develop. In our case of the 2011 Thanksgiving we did not have the people but Nannette and I maintained a 3 year tradition by going to the same restaurant. Well, this year the good folks were back in a big way but the restaurant thingy fell by the wayside. Thank goodness for this year was much better: thanks to Loretta and Mario.
Loretta took it upon herself to do all the fixings and to do it at her place. Now this was much better and the traditional thing continues in a healthy way.
Now some things are not understood by all. You see, over here at our house Nannette and I were looking to another similar day as per last year but we were not enthused so much with the restaurant thing again and she was actually making noises like she, that is we, just might do our own turkey thing and all that. Earlier in the week though I came home to a very relieved Nannette and she greeted me with the news of how Loretta and Mario had in her words, “…… come through like they always do.” The season of Thanksgiving was underway but somethings began to fall apart.
It was mentioned to me that I should get the wine plus there was a vague mention about a pie and that was followed with a short discussion concerning what kind of pie: pumpkin won out.
The night before I took care of the very easy chore of getting wine or so I thought. You see, I only know three things about alcohol drinking. None of it really tastes good to me but it does blank out inhibitions and if it is kept simple like a dull and boring mixture of C-C and water there is not a head ache problem the next day. So, naturally based upon some event somewhere I learned that a red wine named Merlot was not all that bad. Later in just an aside question I asked Nannette if she was sure that was all we needed to do and she thought it was but in the conversation “white wine was mentioned and that was followed with my words – “Why white and if so what kind ……….” Okay, a phone call to Loretta got me all the needed info and that problem was solved.
The next morning as I was leaving out for one of my day off breakfasts I mentioned to Nannette that she had at one time said something about a pie. Well by this time she was convinced that it was all taken care of. I was not: there was an uneasy feeling and I insisted that another call had to be made to Loretta and sure enough Nanette was wrong. Later that morning the corrected message got to me and action got underway. I though was totally ignorant about what is and is not open on Thanksgiving Day, I now know that you can forget Publix and as far as I know any other super market. Now things had to be pushed. I knew I was going to go out on U.S. 19 and begin stopping at every restaurant to make a plea for the pie even if I had to get it one slice at a time. I called Nannette and immediately I picked up on the fact that she was not understanding the seriousness of this situation so I insisted that she get on the road and help find something in the way of a pumpkin pie. Okay I have explained enough of this but I can report that somehow I knew that Perkins restaurants where big when it comes to deserts and sure enough they had what I needed and as it turned out Nannette was successful because she went to the Fresh Market. Problem solved with a little over an hour to spare.
We were able to get to Loretta’s on time and it is like going from dark to daylight when Nannette and I get to leave our world and enter Loretta’s and Mario’s world. Things are calm there, fully completed and organized.
As I have mentioned this year we had a gathering of good folks. Frank and Nancy were there before us and shortly behind came a new couple to me: Andy and Susan.
Immediately it was easy for me to see that somehow Andy had been either been a coach or a Marine drill instructor. I cannot explain it other than to say that I know the two types well. Actually, there are not two types but there is a difference in degrees. You see, a coach can be reasonable. A drill instructor cannot. Sure enough he had done a lot of coaching.
I also figured correctly that Andy and Susan would be New Yorkers. It has become an easy thing for me to do. New Yorkers are never in doubt about anything. They do not have to waste time prefacing a comment with words like – Maybe; It might be; Could it be? Or even what if? They just state their fact and you can struggle with it if you want to but you will not redirect them.
Now I knew I was going to be with mostly New Yorkers so I went prepared with knowledge of New York history which I thought would be of interest. Forget that. For example: In November of 1862 after they had been in a losing war up to that time the big city was excited about a new ice skating pond which was ready to go as soon as the weather got cold enough. The first opening would be a 12 acre site and they were taking action to make it a 20 acre site. I can only tell you that if any city in the south was spending time and money on an amusement park while their folks were dying by the thousands it would still be a topic of conversation. I had other tid-bits of info ready to go just as soon as there were breaks in the conversation but I put all that on hold. New Yorkers probably are pushed so hard to keep moving and avoiding getting trampled that taking time to reflect on their history would be an endangerment.
Nannette is known to be able to hold her own in these conversations but I learned something new. There was a time when she had nothing to say for a long while. The reason was that the discussion of one matter required a mathematical review. That is a percentage of some unknown number can reveal the unknown if the percentage and its number are known. Out came the pencil, paper and calculator. Thus, Nannette withdrew. However, the specific mathematical conversation led to many associated sidebar type conversations because to go from the question to the answer can take different paths. Susan kept this conversation on tract for she is a math teacher. OOOhh! The final answer explains just how wealthy our Mr. Romney is.
Okay, the evening was not short on conversation. I cannot think of much being left out.
The Thanksgiving meal was far better than any we could have had at a restaurant and as far as I am concerned our tradition is back on tract and the good part of it is that any relation to a given restaurant is now remote and forgotten. It is all about people getting together on a day when most times it would be a day to be spent with family but if that is not possible then getting together as friends and sharing family stories is also good.
A Bit: Here & There 