Some Thanksgiving Memories

Pumpkin pie  (Photo: Wikipedia)

Midwest

Not that it was a Norman Rockwell scene.  Can anyone honestly claim that?

While growing up, we would “borrow” whatever we didn’t have from the church.  After all, we lived right next door.

• Roasting pan.
• Range and oven space.
• Refrigerator and freezer space.
• Serving utensils.
• Ice cubes.
• A vase or two.
• And sometimes candles.

Dad was home unless he had emergency calls.  That was unusual.

Grandpa, serving bowl in hand:  “Anybody want more green beans? … Then, before anyone could take a breath, “Didn’t think so.”  Inverts bowl, dumps contents on plate.  Smiles around the table.

Time for dessert.  “Grandpa, do you want some pie?”  “I dasn’t, but I will.”

When I would come home from college for Thanksgiving, my mother, who was 5’2″ tall, would always ask me to get the “good china” off the top shelf of the kitchen cabinet.  She had a step stool, but I guess it was easier to wait until I walked in the door.

New England

One year I my then housemate Margaret’s invitation to have Thanksgiving at her parents’ house in Amherst.  It had snowed 2 feet the night before!  The normally 10 minute drive across town took 45 minutes, even in a VW bug, because the roads hadn’t been plowed yet.

That was the time Margaret and I slogged through some Beethoven Cello Sonatas.  I was shocked to discover an Alberti bass written for the right hand.  My thought at the time was, “You spend 1/2 your life perfecting Alberti bass, and then he puts it in the right hand!”  (Completely unfair, don’t you think?)

After that, we went tobogganing, with limited success, on a low slope.  And then we roasted chestnuts in the fireplace!  (It was real, not only a song.)

And I played ping-pong with Margaret’s 10-year-old brother, Bruce.  He was a riot.

New York

In the city, it’s possible to go out by yourself with no problem.  There are places that are open, and are happy to seat people who are not with others.

I remember one such experience in particular.  The restaurant was called Teachers Too, on Broadway in the 80′s.  Although I had a reservation, as did many others, there was a line.

Directly ahead of me was a family which included several generations.  The oldest member was complaining about everything.  I have to say that provided perspective about being with family or not.

Giving thanks

I am thankful:

• That I live in a free country.
• For my health.
• For my friends.
• For the beauty of music.
• For the beauty of nature.
• For performance opportunities.
• For my students’ and my church choir’s progress.
• And for everyone who reads my blog, of course!  

This year

Now everything has changed.  My plans?

• To set up my Fontanini crèche.  The colors of the hand-painted figures are incredible.  Maybe this is the year to put it on top of the piano.  That’s where ours always was when I was a kid.  Ours had a cow!
• Read John Grisham’s new book, The Racketeer. 
• Have turkey dinner, of course.
• Sleep it off.
• Listen to music.
• Catch up with The New York Times.
• And if there’s any time left, we’ll see…

 Happy Thanksgiving to each of you!  What are your plans?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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