Happy Thanksgiving

It’s that time again, Thanksgiving.

For those who have followed these musings you may remember tales of Thanksgivings past. There was the year of the septic system back up along with related complications, a story about pies that nearly didn’t get baked for a major hotels Thanksgiving Buffet, reminiscences of KDKB’s annual playing of Arlo Guthrie and Alice’s Restaurant. 

This year we dive into dressing, or stuffing, depending on how it is prepared. Stuffing is in the bird, dressing is baked separate. I’m sure that in the past it was mostly stuffing, until our over  sensitive modern times thought that you could get deathly ill from stuffing, which is possible, if you don’t cook it long enough. Simple fix, however I digress.

Dressing in the McVeigh household was always prepared by the men of the family. This recipe, which is written down and locked tightly away was originated by my Grandmother. I’m pretty sure the roots of it were based on an Old Country Recipe. The Old Country being Carnlough, Ireland, where my grandparents hailed from.

Even as a kid my father, brother and I would work on the dressing, it was a ritual that started a few days ahead of the actual day. Bread would be purchased and laid out to dry. Mysterious spices rarely used would appear. Mom would assemble the various meats and vegetables required. But, early Thanksgiving morning the task would be turned over to the men.

We would assemble in the kitchen in the dark, cold, early hours of Thanksgiving morn. Each of us had an assigned duty, Dad  the conductor of the operation, brother and I diving into our individual tasks. It was like a symphony, individual components coming together to create a masterpiece, every year.

In the day’s of old it was stuffing that we made, literally stuffing the bird with Grandma McVeigh’s secret recipe. On completion of this Mom and Grandma would put the turkey in the oven to bake to perfection. 

A few hours later, depending on the size of the stuffed turkey, 18 – 20 pounds was normal in those days, the turkey would come out of the oven, stuffing dished out, mashed potatoes, giblet gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, pickles and black olives would all grace the table for the yearly feast.

With the passing of years Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa and so many of them are gone. Left behind are warm memories of Thanksgiving.

But it isn’t all about memories. My wife and I enjoy a simple Thanksgiving Dinner with each other every year. I still make the same dressing each year, accompanied by the past, while her and I create fresh moments each year.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Next year we’ll discuss WKRP and the infamous Turkey Drop.

The Great Unwind

 

Unwind: relax after a period of work or tension.

It’s been quite the year, we’re moving into autumn, a long awaited season. Our 100 degree days seem to have broken, sun rise and sunset definitely look different, Orion and the Pleiades have made their annual appearance, which seals the deal.

We just returned from a week in Maine, halfway up the coast in Acadia National Park, Seal Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Bass Harbor, Bar Harbor and Otis. The town names have a ring to them, conjuring up images of the famous rocky coast, Atlantic Ocean, small harbor towns, fall leaves, good friends, good fellowship and meals.

 

It was just what was needed.This year hasn’t been the easiest, nor the worst either. Early this year our sweet dog Hobie got very ill, very quickly and we had to sadly let her go. It was a tough time for both of us and we still feel her loss deeply.

There has been a health challenge as well, which I am meeting head on and not letting take control of my life. It too has been a bit of an ordeal, but not insurmountable.

Work has been busy, which is good but also tiring at the same time.

All of that combined led us to our trip this year which was an unwinding that we both needed. It was a trip that couldn’t have been better.

A chance for my wife and I to spend quality time together, to let go of our day to day existence, to fully and completely relax. We spent the days driving the coast, exploring small towns, enjoying each other’s company and being so thankful for our marriage and time together.

Fortunately we have wonderful, dear friends who live on a lake just off the coast and we were able to spend time with them. My wife learned to play Cribbage, I took naps. We sat on the porch spending time in good conversation with friends.

Our souls and our bodies are recharged. Just in time for the Holiday Season!

Coffee has been around since about the 15^th century, give or take. It didn’t’ really catch on until the Boston Tea Party which put quite a damper on tea drinking, among other things. Drinking coffee still kind  of bumped along after that, starting to become popular during the war and the ‘50’s, still just kind of looking for it’s spot. This period in time also introduced us to “instant coffee.” No one is really sure why that happened, or what that stuff was.

It hit it’s stride in the 70’s when that Seattle based company opened up offering coffee to the masses. They now have a few locations and I believe it is still possible to get a cup of black coffee at one of them, kind of like it may still be possible to hear a song played on MTV. Is MTV still around?

This isn’t really about coffee and all the hoopla surrounding it. It is about one particular cup of coffee last summer.

A couple of friends and I had spent a few days on Lake Powell on one of the guys boat. August in Page, Arizona is a little cooler than Phoenix, but then almost anywhere is so it was still a warm trip. After a couple of days on the lake it was time to pack up and head back south.

Getting the boat put away takes a few hours work, putting a 32 foot boat on the trailer, inside cleaning, window covers on the outside, packing the upper and lower Bimini’s,  stowing miscellaneous boat equipment and getting our gear out and stowed in the car for the drive home. It’s a hot afternoon’s work and by the time we finished up I was pretty sweaty and tired.

While the owner was getting a few things done I grabbed my bag and headed over to the storage office.  It’s cool and shady, and rarely is anyone behind the service window. Ring the bell for service and eventually a human appears.

There isn’t a shower there, but in the restroom I used the sink to clean myself with cool water. Surprising how refreshing that can be. Running a comb through my hair, putting on clean fresh close I was ready for the ride home. Almost

The waiting room has a coffee machine which makes one cup of coffee at a time. Perfect. I don’t really like to have a large caffeine intake late in the day and something about de-caffeinated coffee just doesn’t seem right.

Choosing  Sumatra blend, which is very smooth, I waited patiently for my cup of coffee to brew. The machine did it’s thing, a couple of minutes I had a fresh, hot, perfect cup of coffee. Sitting back in one of the leather lounge chairs I sipped on my coffee. Hot, delicious coffee. I was cooled off, clean, relaxed and tired.

A cup of coffee, in solitude. A perfect end to a great trip. One particular cup of coffee that I will always remember,one particular trip that I will also remember.