A STUFFED THANKSGIVING
The day started with my taking a walk before the sun was to arrive. However, it decided to hide behind the clouds this morning. It was a bit cold when I left my place. Eight degrees Celsius, to be exact. After 20 minutes of walking, I could have done without the warm black sweater I was wearing. But I kept it on.
As I circled around the school’s back road, I stopped to notice things that usually escape my vision. The long wire fence in the parking lot, a cluster of red leaves entwined in another wire fence, tall weeds as they reached up to the sky.
Once I got to the track, I did a few stretches and then turned around to walk back the same way. Running will have to wait a while longer as my ankle continues to cause me pain.
My hearty breakfast consisted of soft-boiled eggs topped with fresh thyme, oregano, and chives. Alongside the eggs were baby tomatoes, avocado, green bell pepper, and a ciabatta roll. Also a cup of Scottish breakfast tea.
I had the entire day to myself, yet I wasn’t sure how I would spend it. I ended up cleaning, texting with an old friend on the other side of the world, and finally resolving myself to not doing much of anything except lying on the sofa and watching some online German television.
As the hours passed by, I wondered if I should bother making anything for Thanksgiving. The day before yesterday I bought some sockeye salmon and a bottle of Nero D’Avola at Trader Joe’s. But I didn’t really feel like putting in the effort.
As more time passed, I started to get hungry and somehow made it through the motions of peeling and dicing one Yukon Gold potato, putting it in some water, and adding sea salt to it. As that boiled, I took out a piece of the salmon and placed it on a piece of parchment paper. Salt was first to cover the fish. After that, I sprinkled on Cherry Creek Seafood Seasoning and topped that with some butter. Enclosing the fish in the parchment, I placed that in a braiser and into the oven for what ended up being too long a time as I was not paying attention.
Whilst the fish was baking, I made the table for my guests. I decided since the children could not be with me this year for Thanksgiving, then at least their favourite stuffed animals can take their places at the table. Bunny was on my right-hand side, panther was directly across from me, and camel was to the left of me. We had a great time with the candles glowing and the wine flowing. Our stuffed Thanksgiving was a success. I would have liked to have made a small cake but will do that tomorrow. For tonight’s dessert, we had marzipan stolen with another cup of the black tea I had this morning.
Sometimes when we are alone, we just don’t feel like making the effort to do something nice for ourselves. We think ‘why bother’ and rationalize that it’s easier to eat at the kitchen counter instead of taking the time to make the table and eat at it as if guests were seated around it. During this unprecedented time of this unrelenting Coronavirus pandemic, it becomes even more important to care for ourselves when there is nobody around to share life’s everyday moments. In the end, we will feel better. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but with time and consistent practice, it will be worth it.
