Happy Saladsgiving?

Remember when the vaunted Nate Silver and his election prognosticators at FiveThirtyEight on the morning of Election Day 2016 declared Hillary Clinton had a 71.4 percent chance of being elected president?

Joe Concha of The Hill wrote, “Nate was arrogant.  His numbers were all over the place.  The title of ‘guru’ is now gone.  Silver’s career will survive, but never again will he be held in any revered regard.”

At noon on Sunday, those crystal ball readers tweeted a three-year-old map showing the most disproportionately common Thanksgiving side dishes by region in America.  Turns out there were only 931 respondents.  That’s less than 20 people per state.  I think this thing is bogus and needs a dressing [pun intended].  Are we prepared to then say the most popular dessert on the West Coast is fruitcake?  

Here’s what your part of America eats on Thanksgiving. https://t.co/WDpqVXnoSY pic.twitter.com/4drVC50DJ3

— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) November 18, 2018

Someone replied, “I'm a lifelong Californian who has never had salad on Thanksgiving. This is an odious lie.”  Yet another tweeted, “Why bring a salad to Thanksgiving when you can just step up and directly tell your family that you hate them?”

All I know for sure is you need to have plenty of vegetables on the table: carrot cake, zucchini bread and pumpkin pie.

American humorist Erma Bombeck famously said, “I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage.”

No matter what side dishes find their way to your Thanksgiving dinner table, here’s to a heaping helping of love, joy and fond memories.

Wishing You And Those Dear To You A Wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Happy Thanksgiving To Our Wonderful Readers

Who’s In Charge Here?

AAA Travel projects this holiday nearly 47 million Americans are expected to travel away from home over the long Thanksgiving weekend.  I will be among them.

In a time when aging veterans are told they cannot fly the flag under which they served or school children are told by their school board that there is no time in the day to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, upholding traditions like Thanksgiving may be at odds with our devotion to progressivism or secular self-interest.

If there is one day each year when food and family take center stage, it is Thanksgiving. It is a holiday about “going home” with all the emotional content those two words imply. 

The need to connect with loved ones and to express our gratitude is at the heart of Thanksgiving and a yearning for a simpler time.  Somewhere in the hustle and bustle is the abiding national memory of a moment in Plymouth, nearly 400 years ago, when two very different cultures shared an autumn feast.

While Sophie the Wonderdog and I are away enjoying all the trappings of a turkey day feast and a barrage of ball games on TV, this blog has been placed in the “capable” hands of Proof our resident humorist and newly added author, Grunt of Monte Cristo.

You can expect mischief and perhaps a little mayhem.  The keys to the liquor cabinet have been presented to Proof.  He continues to demand the keys to the good liquor, but that ain’t happenin’.

Proof always lets Jeremiah Puffchecks (the damn squirrel that torments me) in the house and the joint gets trashed to a fare-thee-well.  I can only imagine the wrecking ball that will go through Casa de Curmudgeon with the addition of Grunt and Mayflower the Turkey.  Oh well…as long as nobody gets hurt…

I'll be back in a week so until then...

May the good things of life
be yours in abundance
not only at Thanksgiving
but throughout the coming year.

The Empty Chair On Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a joyful time for families to gather, reconnect and celebrate. But for families experiencing a military separation, holidays can be yet another reminder that a deployed family member is not at home to enjoy hearth and home.  Some of us do not stop to think about the responsibilities and pain these families bear.

Here at home the banquet is on the table, but in a military family the focus is often on the chairs. Some of us will have empty chairs, because of deployment or distance from family members. Some will have extra chairs around the table to make room for friends and neighbors to join our uniquely American celebration.

For those who gather near an empty chair, they pray for those who are responsible for their loved one’s safety knowing that the empty chair still holds the promise of their sitting in it next year.

I am thankful for the men and women who sacrificed throughout our nation’s history, from the very beginning up to this very day to secure and preserve freedom in this great land of ours.

We have so much for which to be thankful, one day hardly seems adequate.

Sophie, my little furkid, and I wish for you and yours all the good things in life, not only at Thanksgiving but throughout the coming year.  May God bless you.

A Tiny Hamster Thanksgiving And More

The car is packed, the gas tank is full and Sophie, my little furkid, is ready to ride shotgun as we make our annual trek to spend Thanksgiving with friends.  
Once we arrive, Sophie will have two other dogs, Tika and Teddy, to play with.  I am bringing a whole Honey Baked Ham® for everyone to feast on.  Everyone else has their assigned goodies to bring.  I am looking forward to wearing my eating pants and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, catching my very most favoritest movie "Miracle on 34th Street" and watching some football.
Like every holiday gathering there will be the "odd" one who was told to "dress up" and arrives dressed like a pilgrim complete with a hat made of construction paper.  And, yes, there will be plenty of embarrassing photographs taken, perhaps even tweeted out (how times have changed) and someone is bound to say or do something that will be recounted years from now.
I've got several posts queued up over the next several days.
Sophie and I wish readers of this blog a safe, happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday. Don't forget to save some space for a piece of pumpkin or sweet potato pie.
Remember to tell the people you care about that you love them and give them a big 'ol hug for good measure.

Stringing The Pearls Of His Favor

The last Thursday in November is the one day that is exclusively American.  We commemorate a harvest festival celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621.

When their arduous existence was rewarded with a bountiful harvest after a year of sickness and scarcity, the Pilgrims gave thanks to God and celebrated His bounty with a joyous outpouring of gratitude.

Times change.  Traditions coalesce.  Their meaning becomes vague to younger generations of Americans.

In a time when aging veterans are told they cannot fly the flag under which they served or school children are told by their school board that there is no time in the day to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, upholding traditions like Thanksgiving may be at odds with our devotion to progressivism or secular self-interest.

If there is one day each year when food and family take center stage, it is Thanksgiving. It is a holiday about “going home” with all the emotional content those two words imply.

The need to connect with loved ones and to express our gratitude is at the heart of Thanksgiving and a nostalgia for a simpler time.  Somewhere in the hustle and bustle is the abiding national memory of a moment in Plymouth, nearly 400 years ago, when two very different cultures shared an autumn feast.

To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us—and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love; every moment of existence is a grace.

I must admit, that this year more than any other in my 61 years of life, I have been stringing the pearls of His favor.

With the diagnosis that I have restrictive lung disease, I became depressed.  My depression was lifted when God brought me to my lung specialist.  I am not well, not cured, but I am in better health as a result of this very caring and compassionate medical professional.

From the miracle of heart catheterization, I have learned that my heart is healthy and not the source of my lung disease. 

From the government shutdown, when I was not being paid despite reporting for duty each day, I was able to liquidate some assets in order to stay afloat financially.

You find yourself praying in times of need.  You should also pray in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for the heavenly blessings which God has bestowed upon me.  I will recount the days filled with abundance, joy and gratitude.  I will kneel in prayer for all the gifts I have received and have yet to receive.

For my readers who have taken a moment from their busy day to leave their kind words and their heartfelt thoughts and prayers, I have been touched by your compassion.

God grants us a gift of 86,400 seconds a day.  You took a few of those precious seconds to think of me and wish me well.  I can never repay your kindness.

I have always loved A.A Milne’s children’s’ story about Winnie-the-Pooh.  It was Piglet who noticed “that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”

I will be thinking of you at Thanksgiving and asking God to bless you abundantly, love you dearly and watch over you always.

Happy Food Coma Day

This has been a busy week for ‘ol Curmudgeon.  I’ve taken the entire week off from work.

On Sunday morning, early, early, early, I packed up the pooch and headed to the beach to visit my best friend of thirty-three years.

We headed out to Home Depot to purchase Christmas lights (for me) and a rosemary bush (for her) to add a holiday fragrance to her new home.  She decided she needed new lights for her house as well.  A beautiful, pre-lit Christmas tree caught her fancy, too.

We took our loot back to the house and then we slopped up on the sofa and the lounger and watched a movie.  Later, after we’d caught some ZZZ’s, we got gussied up and went out for a steak dinner.

On Monday night, we headed out for a buffet dinner with her ex-husband and his wife, her son and his new girlfriend, her daughter-in-law, her niece and nephew and a couple of neighbors.  And, yes, we pigged out big time.

I left for home the following day with Sophie, the dog, in tow.  You never really appreciate how wonderful home is until you’ve gone away and return.  It’s not called Home Sweet Home for nothin’.

Wednesday, I went to the grocery store to pick up the fruits and vegetables I would need for the feast on Thursday.  I prepared what I could in advance and left the chaos for Thanksgiving morning.

Enter Food Coma Day.  Family and friends gathered at Casa de Curmudgeon to enjoy an appetizer of baked spinach dip in bread.  The main course consisted of roasted turkey, sausage dressing, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, bacon wrapped green beans, deviled eggs with bacon, baked cranberry sauce and corn muffins with honey butter.

Then everyone retired to the TV room for the obligatory football game.  On the bar were the desserts I had made on Wednesday:  apple butter pumpkin pie, banana nut bread and fruited ambrosia.

I tried to get a handle on cleaning up the devastation at the table and in the kitchen.  I swear, I think I heard pants buttons pinging off the walls.  I wasn’t sure until I heard someone say, “My God, you almost put my eye out.”

Now, after all that, if you think I’m leaving my humble abode to mix and mingle with the masses for Black Friday you’ve got another think coming.

I’ve got to pull out all my Christmas decorations, decorate the house inside and out and address my Christmas cards.

Hope your Food Coma Day was bountiful and blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving

May the good things of life
be yours in abundance
not only at Thanksgiving
but throughout the coming year.

Thanksgiving: America Coming Home

Let me begin this post with my sincerest wishes that you are surrounded this Thanksgiving with friends and family.

As we gather together to share in our holiday feast, I hope you will remember our brave military servicemen and women who are far from hearth and home serving our nation in harm’s way.  I hope you offer a prayer to those whose tables will have an empty chair that would otherwise have been filled by someone they’ve lost during the year.

Year after year nothing really changes on Thanksgiving does it?  We give thanks that we live in the freest nation on earth.  The baby that was brought into the world since the last Thanksgiving is proudly shown off and the fabric of the American family is stitched together again as the bountiful meal is shared.  America has come home.

Pictured here is the November 24, 1945, Saturday Evening Post cover featuring Norman Rockwell’s "Home for Thanksgiving” where a GI still in his uniform happily helps his mom peel the potatoes for the feast they will enjoy. 

The tradition in my home includes watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  The parade travels down Central Park West and ends at 34^th Street.  That sets the stage for watching, for the umpteenth time, the classic movie Miracle on 34^th Street.

The movie stars little Natalie Wood as Susan Walker, who in her young life, has doubts about childhood’s most enduring miracle. She learns through Kris Kringle, played by Edmund Gwenn, that faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.

Then comes the football games where everybody finds a spot around the TV and undoes their pants to ease that stuffed-to-the-gills feeling.

 

Here’s wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.