Saturday, November 21, 2009

Big Whoop…It’s A Turkey

A few months ago, I had a family of six turkeys in my backyard. The kids and I were enthralled. Day after day, we watched the parents: birds who rarely relaxed and were always vigilant, nervously protecting their young (I identified with them). We watched the chicks: goofy, not knowing what to do, fighting amongst themselves (gee, what sibling pair did that remind me of?). The family hung out in our yard, on and off, for about two months.

Where are they now? Thanksgiving is five days away and there are NO turkeys in my yard. Who says these birds are stupid?

So much is made of cooking the “perfect” turkey. I don’t get it. My husband cleans out the carcass (he does it quite well), I shove it in the pan with some water and spices, pop it in the oven, and hours later the bird is done. Big whoop. Gives me something to do while my DH pretends to listen to his mother while actually pining to watch the football game.

When we were looking for a house, I remember my wonderful spouse looking in the ovens of the prospective houses to see if the ovens were big enough for Thanksgiving dinners. I knew then I was dealing with a serious carnivore.

Rather than focusing on the food, I focus on this concept of being grateful. Experts now say that those who are grateful live longer & are healthier. With my figure, that’ll probably buy me an extra 10 minutes of life and I’ll take every minute. What the experts should say is that being thankful for what you have also makes life richer.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

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