Well here it is, another Big Ugly Thanksgiving Day, and it does seem like an appropriate, if clich\u00e9d, time for a recitation of all the shit for which I am thankful.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll start with a conversation that SOBUMD had with the kids this morning, while I was still sleeping (the fact of which I am also thankful for).\u00a0 This conversation started yesterday while she was shopping with the Reigning Queen of Pink, when out of the blue she got The Santa Question.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, the RQoP is 8 years old, often going on 6 years old, and we\u2019re not always quite sure how much of the \u201ccute and silly\u201d she affects is an act, and how much is natural \u2013 she has the theater in her blood.\u00a0 So, getting The Santa Question in its barest state (\u201cMommy, is Santa Claus real?\u201d) took SOBUMD aback a little.\u00a0 These are the times as a parent, when you get no warning of danger ahead until the river drops and you\u2019re going over this waterfall Right Now, and your answer in the next 2 seconds has the potential to define a part of your child\u2019s life, when you wish you could hit the big Pause button in the sky and think for a minute.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Luckily, SOBUMD is an expert.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you think?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
RQoP:\u00a0 \u201cI think it\u2019s parents.\u201d<\/p>\n
Breathing a sigh of relief, SOBUMD agreed with her, and moved the conversation to how we can all be Santa for our friends and family, and for strangers in need.\u00a0 This conversation continued this morning with Number One Son, describing how the RQoP and Number One Son and the Human Tape Recorder could all be Santa Claus to one another, being loving and friendly to each other, along with the giving of gifts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Number One Son, looking up from his breakfast, told them, \u201cYes, it\u2019s called inclusive altruism.\u201d<\/p>\n
SOBUMD had to look it up, and I had to think about it a minute myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the day progressed and I awoke from the drug induced slumber I\u2019d been in for the previous 11 hours, I entered the kitchen to find coffee, chocolate croissants, bacon, and more meds to deal with the pneumonia I\u2019m getting over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We moved on to more standard Thanksgiving traditions, watching the Macy\u2019s parade and playing Christmas tunes as soon as Santa came down 34th Street in Manhattan.\u00a0 SOBUMD prepped the turkey with a good rub on the outside and homemade bread and sausage stuffing on the inside.\u00a0 (It\u2019s called stuffing because you stuff it in the bird, damnit \u2013 I don\u2019t care what the FDA says.)\u00a0<\/p>\n
We would have been in West By God Virginia celebrating the day with the Very Clever Grandparents, some of their friends, and my sister, but between my highly medicated coughing and itching, the RQoP\u2019s fever, and SOBUMD still gimping on her post-surgery knee, we concluded that discretion would have to be the better part of thanks this year.\u00a0 For the first time I can remember \u2013 certainly in more than 30 years \u2013 we have Thanksgiving with only us.\u00a0 Relaxing, yet strangely quiet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And now, with a bottle of Georges Dubeuf\u2019s Beaujolais Nouveau given by a good neighbor, dishes being cleaned in a dishwasher given by a good neighbor, a small turkey in a working oven, more medication on board than anyone without HIV should be taking, sweet potatoes baking in the side oven, a pumpkin pie made from scratch baked with a pumpkin grown in my own backyard, children reading and playing quietly, and Christmas music rolling through the house, I submit to you a few of the things for which I am Thankful.<\/p>\n
I am thankful for good neighbors, past and present.<\/em>\u00a0 SOBUMD and I made three toasts with the aforementioned wine:\u00a0 First, to the health of our generous neighbors.\u00a0 Second, to my Uncle George, for whom Georges Dubeuf\u2019s Beaujolais Nouveau was the Thanksgiving wine of choice every year \u2013 it was just fantastic. \u00a0And last to our love, always, and for all these things I am thankful.<\/p>\n I am thankful for the family and pharmaceuticals that let me sleep in this morning.\u00a0 <\/em>Better living, and sometimes just living at all, through chemistry.\u00a0<\/p>\n I am thankful for recipes that still start with \u201cgrow a pumpkin\u201d, \u201cshoot a deer\u201d, or \u201ckill a bird.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Some things shouldn\u2019t come from a can.<\/p>\n I am thankful to be living in a land of plenty, in a time of plenty.<\/em>\u00a0 We Americans talk about the recession and the economy, and there are too many of us who don\u2019t have enough to get by, but we are better off than much of the rest of the world, and around the world people are better off now, on average, than humans have ever been before.\u00a0 I am thankful for the things I have.\u00a0<\/p>\n I am thankful to have children who are smarter than I am.\u00a0 <\/em>The constant state of wonder and amazement in which I spend my days stems in no small part from watching them and wondering what they\u2019ll do and say next.\u00a0 Even if they don’t always practice inclusive altruism.\u00a0<\/p>\n I am thankful for all my family, those by blood and those by bonds of friendship.<\/em><\/p>\n And certainly not least:<\/p>\n I am thankful for you, dear friend, fond relation, and Gentle Reader.<\/em>\u00a0 Without your readership as an excuse for my ramblings, they\u2019d have locked me up long ago and I\u2019d just be talking to myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n Happy Thanksgiving to all!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thanksgiving Day is time for a recitation of all the shit for which I am thankful – starting with inclusive altruism. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[61,3,5,40,10,4],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.biguglymandoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.biguglymandoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.biguglymandoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.biguglymandoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.biguglymandoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=901"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.biguglymandoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":903,"href":"http:\/\/www.biguglymandoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions\/903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.biguglymandoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.biguglymandoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.biguglymandoll.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}