The sky was beautifully pink yesterday morning and after a mile of walking, I ran an unofficial 5k on sand without wetting my feet. I was out of breath but not breathless at the end of my run. I felt light-headed and bent over for a couple breaths. It is not the first time I have wondered if my blood pressure might have gone down closer to what it was when I began running in the 90s. Decades ago, when I told my mother my blood pressure was 90/60, she said, “That’s ridiculous. You would feel dizzy when you got out of bed. ” Well, yes I did. Often.

Yesterday was an easy morning even as we packed up to leave the coast. Breakfast was a stewed apple-and-raisin with goat cheese galette. (I used the crust I didn’t use for a second pumpkin pie—more about that later.) The accident reported on highway 26 turned out to be a fender-bender. There was traffic, but we did not have to stop on the highway. Gary packed our twinkly tree for the condo. We met neighbors from our building at McMenamins Blue Moon for a drink, and that was particularly marvelous—Sara and Mario are delightful people (and teachers) and the Blue Moon is only around the corner. 

Years ago, when we lived in the University District in Seattle while attending the University of Washington, the tavern at the end of the block was called the Blue Moon. Today, Tripmaster calls it a great “dive-bar.” It was a dive even back then. We never drank there because I did not drink at all in those days. Not drinking or using drugs or having a car were ways we got through college without our parents’ help and without student loans—not to mention we both working more than halftime. Tuition was cheap in those days compared to now, but we knew people who were paying off school loans into their forties even then. They flew to Hawaii over Spring Break. We worked overtime. So no drinking.

We are all grown up now. I had a hard cider yesterday afternoon. We think we have friends who are English teachers, and share passion for music and books, art and the Embassy.

We’re thankful for that. Yes, it is that day where we look around for gratitude. 

It’s not so hard to find. 

We’re thankful to be having a meal with family today, for sunrises and sunsets, for naps and walking to the store, for Marcona almonds and pumpkin pie made with Delicata squash, for sharing the names of bands we saw back in the day and comparing the books we have been reading, and for being alive and in company even in these tumultuous times. 

Yesterday, I finished the fifty thousand words to “win” National Novel Writing Month during the month of November. Today I will continue to write because my goal is to continue writing at least 1667 words every day of this month. Some days I have written more than three thousand, some I have barely squeaked over the minimum. Yesterday was like that, just squeaking by with my lowest daily word count. I started slowly at the coast, and only barely scraping up the necessary minimum number of words after the end of our lovely day. 

I missed opportunities. One obvious character needed her story told. I did not write that story. I found notes this morning about another character’s story. Didn’t do that either. That will be written any moment. I have a thousand words done, at least 700 to go. I’m not complaining. This is good progress for dawn. I will finish in dribs and drabs and pass 52k today.

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Over the past week, there have been a lot complaints about roasting turkey in the news. So I can be thankful for that too. I did not have to do that work today, but I have to say that roasting the turkey was the easy part of a family Thanksgiving. I’ve roasted a lot of turkeys. As a vegetarian since 1990, I don’t have to touch a dead, plucked bird ever again. 

There is still a problem about Thanksgiving meals. This holiday I realize that I do not know how to cook a holiday meal for just two people.

My strategy for holiday meals has always been to prepare in stages. This was necessary I figure out the menu and then make one dish or perhaps two a day beginning a few days or a week in advance. I taught until Thanksgiving day so baking pies, roasting the bird and dressing, making gravy, Waldorf salad, and two vegetables in one day is not merely a lot, it’s impossible. (I used the same approach during the years we hosted a Christmas party. I would literally begin baking cakes and mushrooms in phyllo right after Thanksgiving was cleared away. Anything that could be frozen was done in advance. I saved baking meringues for the actual day—they made the house smell nice, and I’ve never tried freezing meringues.  [How long are Thanksgiving leftovers good for? This links to an article citing USDA recommendations, which are extremely conservative.]

Earlier this week I made my traditional wild rice and mushroom casserole, suitable to serve at least ten. The bread stuffing with celery, cranberry, onion, green onion, and fresh herbs, and even though I used the smaller casserole, I still made enough for a crowd. I made a pumpkin pie and custard with little crust leaves, but remembered in time that Gary and I would be the only ones to eat pie. We could probably eat two pies before they went off, but we should not do that. So instead, I used cooked squash to make six servings of curried squash and caramelized onion soup. Then I baked, split, and stuffed eight large russet potatoes—sixteen servings. 

The potatoes are not theoretically overkill. They are my contribution to today’s holiday meal. Nine or perhaps eleven people will sit down to dinner this afternoon. That sounds promising, but several of them will not eat the potatoes because they are potatoes and because the stuffing contains dairy (butter, milk, and cheese). A couple might nibble (I should cut the halves in half, and even so). There will be leftovers for my younger son—he’s the one the potatoes are for. The two little custards are for my grandchildren. Whipped cream on top is their favorite part.

We still have leftover pie since we only ate half last night.

I am thankful for leftovers, but after 22 months of isolation, I have finally learned how to cook meals for two (or for four, giving me a second day when I can put food on the table, without cooking or freezing portions). Now I have to figure out how to portion meals it for our holidays.  

The history of this holiday today is a mashup of pretty lies, betrayal and murders, faith and good intentions.

I am thankful for the good intentions. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Thankful.

I feel I must note that when I was about to publish this morning and choosing the “categories” for this post, I realized that I pretty much ticked off every box: food, writing, current events, running, education, NaNo, family…