What They Really Ate on Thanksgiving

inedible - adjective - not able to be eaten (Google).

Thanksgiving has a tendency to creep up on you. And like any other holiday, once it is upon you, it stays for a few hours and then vanishes unlike the wild turkey (I'm talking the fowl here, not a hyper idiot or whiskey) of New Jersey that can decide to have a picnic in front of your car and refuse to relocate even when you lean on the horn. Most who celebrate the Pilgrims and Native Americans being united in good cheer for the first time up in Massachusetts in the early 1600s, adhere to their own set of traditions, which almost always includes a turkey (not a stubborn one, a defrosted Butterball). That being said, there is some controversy as to whether the original celebrants included the turkey on the menu. 

Yesterday, as I was eating a hardboiled egg (a safe choice for any meal), I read TIME's "Her Tribe Fed the Pilgrims..." which is all about a Mashpee Wampanoag chef who is perpetuating the recipes of her people at her restaurant. The Mashpee Wampanoags were the friendly tribe who joined the refugees from England, some of whom just wanted to practice their religion sans any conflicts, which is nothing new even in this age. It is probably true that the natives chose the food for that initial dinner as the English have never been known for their cuisine although the last time I was in London, I did notice a vast improvement. What I am trying to impart here is that according to Sherry Pocknett, the Wampanoag cook featured in the essay, the vast, diverse party of diners probably didn't eat any turkey because the tribal people respected the "intelligence" of the turkey way too much to sample its edible wares. Instead, they most likely consumed the first two of which I consider to be inedible: venison (I don't eat deer because I feed them everyday on my front lawn; I try not to serve up animal friends to friends), duck (another pal) and various fish in addition to cornmeal, the latter most on the list being the only thing I have ever served on Thanksgiving. You must know of Jiffy corn muffin mix? Yes, that's it. The packaged cornmeal makes a great loaf of cornbread and only costs about a dollar. 

I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed after reading the article. The acumen of the turkey must have gone down considerably over the centuries as I have never met a smart one. And it's a good thing because I enjoy eating turkey on Thanksgiving Day. I don't know what I'd do if I were forced to start thinking of them as friends. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it! 

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The Paracosm and a Very Real Bird of Prey

paracosm - noun - highly defined imaginary world created in a child's mind (Google)

Paracosm is not one of the words on the tips of people's tongues today. In fact, most children and adults tend to be a bit lazy about creating imaginary worlds since technology often does it for them. Which is a shame. I don't know about you, but I miss hearing original, tall tales from young kids or even from adults. Nowadays, the little and big ones generally point out something they favor on a tablet or a laptop. It just isn't the same. 

Where I live, you don't need a vivid imagination. You can live inside the possibility of a paracosm easily just by stepping outside the door. To clarify, though, my house isn't in the Badlands of South Dakota. I reside in a development of overly priced houses (McMansions) about twenty-five miles west of New York City. It is called the suburbs, better known as "the 'burbs." (You might recall the Tom Hanks' '80s movie by the same name. Not much has changed since it was made.) There are swatches of green space (called parks) that punctuate the place, but that's about it. Why then would a hungry hawk from God knows where nearly attack me in my own driveway? 

It happened just yesterday. As I approached my house, I noticed two unfriendly looking ravens standing near my garage, most likely confabulating in their own language about whatever ravens confabulate about. I thought nothing of them, but probably should have since they don't come around too often. Ostensibly, they were foreshadowing but how was I to know that? As I pulled into the driveway, they flew off only to reveal a previously unseen sidekick, a hawk (or at least an osprey), struggling to tear its already deceased prey, a male cardinal, from the deer netting protecting the front bushes. I figured that if I opened the door of the car, the carrion raptor would fly off in fear. I was wrong, of course. As I attempted to exit the vehicle, the ominous hawk, in attack mode, took wing at ramming speed right at me. Thankfully, my reflexes are still pretty sprightly so that I was able to shut the door before I got viciously pecked at a la fellow blonde Tippi Hedren in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds." (Now it is my guess that based on his films, Alfred probably had impressive paracosms as a kid.) I started the car, drove it down to the edge of the driveway where I parked it. From there, I ambled to the house, all while my plumed antagonist sat perched above on the TV cable, watching my every move. Fortunately, I got into the house safely so that the now starving creature could take the opportunity to devour the cardinal, leaving only several gray tufts of feathers to float faintly through the air minutes later. Fortunately again, it left the premises, hopefully never to be seen again. 

Now since you don't know me or my circumstances at all, you might think that I could have invented the entire anecdote, making it an epic paracosm created in an adult's mind. However, I didn't. Who needs a paracosm when real life is weird enough as it is? 

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Determination in the Decade

 

ambition - noun - strong desire to do or to achieve something, requiring determination and hard work.

This morning as I was contemplating going through the motions of starting the day, the most recent edition of Time, lounging auspiciously on my dining room table, caught my attention. Since I pay for a subscription to the magazine, I thought I had better read at least some of it before the next installment came, and I felt guilty for not having opened it up at all before I pitched it into the recycling bin. While paging through it, I noticed a personal essay on ambition, a word that no longer is broached in conversations that I tend to have with people, probably because most of my associates tend to have been there, done that already and are now striving for R&R as opposed to a raise or promotion at a job. Still, according to the article and my own cachet of common sense, a certain amount of determination is necessary to ward off depression (apparently), a.k.a. mental illness. In other words, just because you or I might be retired doesn't mean you or I should cast aside all of ambition entirely. 

Ostensibly, the best way to stay young and healthy is to have an altruistic purpose in life. Face it, striving for money and power can definitely have setbacks. Inside this decade of "woke," selfish ambition doesn't cut it anyway. It's just not trendy since there is just too much that needs to be done to preserve life on the planet. Even so your cause could be partially self-motivated (a reflection of who you are) and partially public-spirited (magnanimous). What I do, for instance, fits the bill. I write and record music with the intention of somehow improving the status quo of people's lives. Fame and fortune are not in the picture simply because A. I don't want the hassles involved with both and B. when it comes to the business of music, I am a realist. Thousands of songs debut a day, so why should anyone wish to listen to mine in particular? Well, I am hoping my lyrics speak to people in some way. On Sunday, someone in the Ukraine found my song "Looking for the Light" on RadioAirplay (jango.com) and listened to it. Whether or not, the person, ravaged by the effects of the continuing war there, felt a sense of solace or relief as a result, I don't know. But I would guess something good came out of the three minutes of hearing the one phrase from the song's refrain repeated several times: "I'll put up a sure fight just to overcome the pain." 

The takeaway is you never know what you can do for others until you try. Staying determined to make a difference in this decade of problematic politics, etc., isn't easy, but a clear, generous purpose in life will keep you away from destructive thoughts and behaviors. And at the end of the day, you might just feel a lot better about yourself. 

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Being All in with Generosity

 

all in - fully committed to or involved in something (Google)

Last week, reluctantly, I attended yet another funeral of a dear friend who had passed away too suddenly, too young. His wife, his second–as he had lost his first, my best friend–provided an apt eulogy, commencing it with "Bobby was all in," meaning he had never done anything halfway, what some would call "half-assed." Unfortunately, it was that same never-say-die spirit that eventually contributed to his untimely demise. He passed as he was all in when it came to abusing alcohol. However, no one needs to travel this route since she or he can be "all in" in positive, practical, productive ways. And being all in when it comes to giving is one.

This past Monday was Halloween, one of my favorite days of the year as everyone and anyone can participate and enjoy the effort. Historically, the day celebrates the dead. Even the smallest and youngest of us can relate in some way to the idea of loss. What child hasn't lost something? A goldfish? An overly hugged teddy bear beyond repair? My friend Bobby loved Halloween because it provided him with a legitimate opportunity to fool others into thinking he was someone he wasn't, and he was "all in"whenever he had the chance to deceive creatively. I like the holiday because it gives me a chance to be all in to spoiling the local trick-or-treaters with movie theater boxes of candy that I procure from the local Dollar Tree at $1.25 per treat. I wind up spending about a hundred dollars because I usually get nearly a hundred costumed revelers lining up in front of my house within two hours. I spend the big bucks on the big boxes because I love to see the stunned expressions on the kids' faces: the wide eyes revealing disbelief, the mouths opening in perfect O's to admit breathy "wow's." It is as though I am handing out scratch-offs for the million-dollar lottery pay-off and each has the winning combination, so I get to witness the visual-oral thrill multiple times. It is positively exhilarating as well as heartrending.

Yet, my friends, being all in when it comes to generosity doesn't have to cost you an arm and a leg monetarily. You can be all in by volunteering your time to a worthy cause or friend or family member. A life well-lived is a commitment to passion. Why not be all in with generosity? 

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