2008-11-27

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a lovely day of it here and I hope you did as well. The weather cooperated, warming up into the 50s F and beaming with sunshine.

Mick worked a full day, setting out after Morning Offering just as Mel was coming in, having driven down from Avalon to spend a couple of days at Camelot. She was still unnerved after her visitation by stewed coon hunters last night, but a bit of conversation with me, a shower and a cup of coffee brought her into the present moment and she and I had a good morning, baking the Cream Cheese Brownie Pies and getting the Artichoke Spinach Pinwheels to the rolled-up-and-in-the-fridge stage before lunch.

After our lunch break we went back and put the Bacon and Egg Casserole with Gruyere Cheese together and gave it its first baking. It is a two-stage recipe, designed so that you can make it the day before you use it and just pop it in the oven for 10 minutes when morning comes. We organized the biscuits, put the turkey in the oven, made the gravy and then welcomed our guests.

The first to arrive was Romi, bearing a couple of bottles of wine, Pinot Grigio for me and Merlot for him. After Thanksgiving hugs he was off to do some computer maintenance. Mick blew in at that point, smelling like evergreens, as he had been trimming them for a customer. Mick and I had a quick bath together just as Eric and his Mom, Phellis, arrived, making our company complete.

The turkey came out right on schedule, and we popped the appetizers in the oven and then heated up Gary’s and Jim’s dishes – Sweet Potatoes and Apples in a Maple Glaze, Sweet Peas and Portabella Mushrooms in Alfredo Sauce and Enhanced Stove-Top Stuffing. And we found a pretty serving spoon for the Cranberry Orange Relish.

We enjoyed the pinwheels and some wine as we talked about everything under the sun, from Obama and the economy to health problems and doctors to Avalon and its doings. At 7:30 we heated the biscuits and declared that Thanksgiving Dinner was ready.

There ensued an hour-long, fairly silent pause while we just enjoyed the feast! I do think that this occasion is at least partially about the food! There is a celebration of the senses in the wonderful tastes and odors of good food, laden with spices and herbs and lovingly prepared, that is a wonderful ritual.

Eventually we had to give it up – we were too full to eat another bite! Mel got out the Trivial Pursuit game and we had a spirited match which I won – for the first time in years! Mick is usually the winner, with his incredible memory for details. But I got lucky tonight!

The conversation continued, flowing gently around the group as we cut the pies and had tea, coffee or Bailey’s, which Eric and Phell had brought. At 9:00 we paused for a brief Gaia Meditation. I offered the closing prayer tonight.

I gazed around the room as it glowed in the lamplight. Our beloved friends had come to make this day the wonderful time of thanks-giving that the title of the day promises, and I felt so very blessed! Each person is so special – Eric the eternal rebel and information junkie, Phell the C-Span watcher and lover of the outdoors, Romi the sophisticated world traveler who retains a touching and perhaps permanent naiveté and innocence of spirit, Melissa the beautiful, delicate sprite whose every dream and vision is of a far better world and whose pioneer hands are busy in the earth, on the chain-saw and driving the huge old Massey-Ferguson tractor.

And of course my most beloved St. James, my rock and fortress on this earth, whose soul and body dances all the day, whether with the devas and nature spirits or with his imagination, as he lives his rhythmic, priestly life. How I adore that man! He brings me infinite beauty and shows me the Christed Creator.

Thank you, Lord, for all!