The Gobbler Files - Part 1

I depart from my usual pattern of “blogging” in order to bring you some thoughts and observations on the Thanksgiving Holiday, with a bit of humor thrown in to offer us all a good laugh, and see what’s truly blessed in our lives. I hope you enjoy. There will be two parts to this story. Part one follows now, while part two will be posted later this evening or tomorrow. Perhaps this story describes your family; perhaps it doesn’t, but I think it sums up much of what most of us experience.

As I write this blog entry, I sit, stuffed to (what would be, if I were a fish) the gills with Thanksgiving dinner, masterfully prepared by my father-in-law, wife, and others from that side of the family. Most of us, if not every one, have an idealistic view of what this wonderful holiday has been in the past, what it will be like this year, and what it will be like in years ahead. What is that idealistic view: heartwarming and serene? Yes. Realistic? Not by any stretch of the imagination.

It might be the scenes ingrained within our collective psyche, the Cratchitt home in Dicken’s Carol, a family with not enough, but everything exciting and peaceful and perfect. Thanks to the creativity of Dickens and Company, and the wizards of Hollywood, we are under the impression that Thanksgiving dinner is perfect. And, truth be told, it usually is. It’s everything leading up to and following it that is miraculously tolerated and survived.

For instance, it’s amazing what a dinner deadline does to the sanity of the chefs. Likewise, travel times, weather, and “I just feel like I’ve forgotten something …” wage war on an otherwise perfect day.

This year, a frantic phone call from the in-laws announced that, as if on cue from the ‘havoc gnomes,’ electricity had been cut to the entire neighborhood; a minor inconvenience on Wednesday or Friday, but a disaster of incalculable magnitude on Thanksgiving Thursday. After two hours of electrical (and thus, oven) darkness, a 19-pound turkey is in extreme jeopardy.

At this point in our story, a new guest is invited to the festivities: the poultry technician at the Butterball™ Hotline. One phone call and several tense minutes spent waiting, we are introduced to a presumably nice Indian or Bangladeshi woman. Through her guidance, she informs us that the turkey is in no immediate danger, as long as the power comes on after a couple of hours, and the oven door is not set ajar.

At least, that’s what it kind of sounded like to us. Time will tell if our interpretation was correct.

After bidding a fond adieu to our foreign exchange dinner guest via Ma Bell, the power is restored, and the cooking commences. Thus, when the family has finally gathered at the table, adding the casseroles and meats brought from other homes, everything looks and smells wonderful. The taste of said feast is yet to be determined.

Accompanying that ideal impression of Thanksgiving dinner is conversation, dealing with our thankfulness, our love for each other, and blessings on friends and family. Again, is this really the way it works for us? Be honest, now!

Wrangling the young children, hoping to avoid dragging an arm through the mashed potatoes, the conversation is, shall we say, a little less that delectable. To be sure, there was discussion of jobs, of extended family, of a well-timed bit of humor, and in my family ... the brother-in-law.

(My brother-in-law will soon be a first-time father. I include this fact in order for the remainder of the story to be in the proper context.)

PART TWO COMING SOON!!! CHECK BACK OFTEN!!!


© 2005, Chris Keeton and Soulscape Press. All rights reserved. All material printed on this site is protected by the copyright law of the United States. It may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Chris Keeton and Soulscape Press, obtainable by writing to soulscape@alltel.net. Altering or removing any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content is not permitted. Any and all portions of material copied from the Soulscape Blog must be properly attributed to Chris Keeton and Soulscape, and cited with original blog web address.