Thursday, November 26, 2009

As We Ready Ourselves for our 2009 Turkey Dance.


Yearly, my Thanksgiving meditation is of my mother-in-law(God rest her soul). What a faithful woman she was and what an entrance into heaven there must have been for such a woman who sacrificed her entire life and poured it into her children.
I remember turkeys from my own mother, whose delicious turkeys were often the story of the year.
I was right next to my mother when she was burned, horribly by the turkey, while basting it. I do try to forget that horrific moment. Mother survived, Thank God. But, this year, I am remembering my mother-in-law and the turkey dance.
One of the last Thanksgivings, she took me to her side in the kitchen and handed me one leg of the Turkey. Here Jayne, Do this! she said. What? The Turkey was a frozen ball and she had a stick of butter and seasonings, mostly paprika and she was intending to massage these seasonings into the turkey. What a wrestling match, we had. She had one leg and I had the other and the Turkey which had been used to sitting in that closed position didn't like us pulling at it like we did. Her hands and my hands were full of butter and when we were done I couldn't see the difference between my hands and the turkey. It was red and I think my whole body was full of paprika? It is the one memory of my mother-in-law that I try to pass along every Thanksgiving. The joy of the love of sharing a meal with loved ones. The dirtying of the hands and the kitchen to grant a loving request of the people that you love. Wrestling with the elements of the turkey to wring out of it a delicious meal. I do love the day. Today, it is me and my Elyse wrestling with the Turkey.
The fog is as thick as peanut butter, outside; our hearts are warmed inside by the anticipation of loving Thanksgiving. We do hope your Thanksgiving is happy and safe.

1 comment:

Joanne Bodden said...

i hope you had a chance to really feel the Grace of God! Holiday time can so hectic please make sure you keep that peace of heart!
Love to you Jayne

Title- The Studious One!

Title-  The Studious One!
artwork by Elyse

Of biscuits and syrup

Of biscuits and syrup
tasty treats

Happy Saturday!

Happy Saturday!
a day at the Raptor Center.

Widdle Emmie in outer space school

Emmie jumped on the bus and off it flew out into the atmosphere. There was a set of clouds with turbulence right above the house and it took a few minutes for my Emmie to buckle her seatbelt. They hit the bump hard and it knocked my Emmie out of her seat and she bumped her head. The video camera came on and the monitor looked through and stated, Ms. Emmie, where are you? You are not in your seat. Where are you? I am alright I fell because I hadn’t buckled correctly. Well jump up Emmie we have a long way to go and you have to be buckled there is entirely too much turbulence in the stratosphere for you to unbuckle now. As soon as we are through this weather system there will be straight sailing but right now you must buckle. Emmie scrambled into the seat with intensity and purpose now. She watched every cloud pass her window and her nose was pressed to the window trying to see the top of the house as it drifted slowly out of sight. Soon they were not only out of sight of the house, the sun came out brightly and just as quickly they were putting on the atmospherical breathing apparatus and the outerspherical lights. The ABA and the OL. These precautions were to make them appear to be satellites to the radar as they were out in the ionosphere. Emmie knew all about this now. She had gone to the orientation and had a good breakfast and it took them 20 minutes for her to get out past the atmospherical pull and to feel the zero gravity. It would be 15 minutes before the gravity simulators would take effect, a glitch in the system which was being worked on. Until then, they enjoyed the couple of minutes of floatation, while being connected to the seats by belt. The first thing they saw everyday was the strataflotsam. The items which had been dumped into the atmosphere by earlier generations. What would their generation do about this ecological waste area that remained floating above their heads? This was a question for the generations. For now it was the area that they had to guide through on the way to school.

Midnight at the OASIS

Midnight at the OASIS
Sunset in Huntersville

My little Emmie

ran to the bus on the first day of the last year of school. 2 buns on the side of her head. She kissed me and ran at dawn to the bus. She was starting the adventure of a lifetime. I would never see that little girl again, she was going to woman school!

My Father and I 1989

My Father and I 1989

to the tune of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

A VISIT TO PAPA











Are you going to Mary Immaculate?

Apricots, Chocolate Cherries and Pie,



Remember me to the one who lived there,



He once was a true love of mine,



Tell him to buy me an acre of land,



Apricots, Chocolate Cherries and Pie,



Between the muddy Hudson in Jamaica Bay,



Then, He’ll be a true love of mine,

Tell him to sow in it seeds of pure cream,



Apricots, Chocolate Cherries and Pie,



And build Ice cream mountains and buildings of whipped cream,

Then, He’ll be a true love of mine,



Tell him to reap them with sickles of M&M’s,



Apricots, Chocolate Cherries and Pie,



And chew bubble gum and eat till we’re done,



Then, He’ll be a true love of mine.



Tell him to run it off down the motor parkway,



Apricots, Chocolate Cherries and Pie,



After your done 50 pushups



and jog down the West Side Highway,



Then he’ll be a true love of mine…

(Don’t wait for me today dad, The kids are sick again, My tummy’s bulging again, My heart is aching again, And now there’s no love there…)





He once was, a true love of mine….So, Girls, I do beg you don't miss your Daddy,Apricots, Chocolate cherries and Pie,You have one short chance to see him on this side, Go visit him and let your light shine.