"THANK GOD FOR TURKEY...and life!"

Thanksgiving. A time to sit down, and give thanks to all that we are thankful for getting and giving and receiving over the last year, no, that's Christmas, but, right - Thanksgiving. Besides being thankful for the obvious things (eg. life, liberty, shelter, use of all my limbs, bank loans, a functioning [though sometimes malfunctioning] brain, good friends, family and girl, a sweet woman's cruiser [thanks girl], fresh air, common sense and good eyesight, an addiction to coffee and catchy tunes, a friendly cat, and my guitar) I am also thankful for multiple Thanksgiving dinners. There is nothing better than leaving one tasty and delightful turkey dinner for another equally, but different tasty and delightful turkey dinner. For some reason or another, I can not eat as much as I'd like to at the first, (is it b/c of the five hour build up to a nine minute stuff fest, or do I get full on the preceding aroma?) - so the second feast is a great chance to make up for missed opportunities. "Why can't someone just pinch me, so I'm on the ball?" Now I know what Craig meant there. Wake up, put on a decent shirt (with sleeves, preferably) and stuff your face full of delectable bird and hog. Twice. And creamy mashed potatoes with a hint of cream cheese and chives. Or, sweet potatoes with more than a hint of super sweetness. Stuffing. A classic and a must for both dinners. Bread, butter and beets. Corn, carrots and peas. Broccoli, cheese and cauliflower. Gravy. Lot's of steamy gravy. Wine, beer or... wine. Beans, beans the magical fruit, the more you eat 'em the more you want pie. Pumpkin cheesecake or straight up and stripped down regular old pumpkin pie (my personal fav) to be exact - topped high and heavy with cool-whip, vanilla ice cream or a la mode. (actually, a la mode means with ice cream or the prevailing style or fashion, so yeah - give it to me like everyone else, please). We also got the world famous apple pie (a la mode or with a strip of cheddar cheese for you real Canadian old-schoolers), and the ultra exclusive and mysterious berry pie. Besides the superb quality of all this amazing, fresh, warm, sleep inducing food and drink, there are four things that you are guaranteed with a Thanksgiving dinner: 1) there will be at least five times too much food at the table, which is fine with me because I get to take the left overs home. 2) No matter how fast the fan is or wide open the windows are, it will be very hot. Partly because of the steamy food and over worked oven and stove, but also because of the heat produced by voracious chattering, chewing, scooping and pouring. 3) Speaking of chatter, there will be endless speak of old times, catching up and dumb, funny stories, and 4) At least one person, maybe even two will, towards the end of the meal, announce clearly, concisely and with a sense of profoundness as fast filling eaters look on in amazement - "Well, it took five hours to make, and nine minutes to eat!" Happy Thanksgiving World! I mean loyal readers. I mean Mom, Katie and Philzip.