The Cure
Lying around all day
with some strange new deep blue
weekend funk, I'm not really asleep
when my sister calls
to say she's just hung up
from talking with Aunt Bertha
who is 89 and ill but managing
to take care of Uncle Frank
who is completely bed ridden.
Aunt Bert says
it's snowing there in Arkansas,
on Catfish Lane, and she hasn't been
able to walk out to their mailbox.
She's been suffering
from a bad case of the mulleygrubs.
The cure for the mulleygrubs,
she tells my sister,
is to get up and bake a cake.
If that doesn't do it, put on a red dress.
--Ginger Andrews (from Hurricane Sisters)
So this Friday before Thanksgiving, think about Aunt Bert and how she'll celebrate Thanksgiving! And how about YOU?
1. What is your cure for the "mulleygrubs"? Take a walk with dogs. Sing a song. Take a shower. Get a pedicure.
2. Where will you be for Thanksgiving? At home, eating mostly regular food. Cooking piles of special meal items out of allegiance to tradition, when I am trying to reduce and my resident eater finds any food consumption a chore - doesn't make sense.
3. What foods will be served? Which are traditional for your family? I will certainly make my mom's bread dressing, which has tons of onion and celery and (properly made) Kellogg's seasoned Croutettes. However, those are very hard to find now-a-days; Pepperidge Farm or Mrs. Cubbison's will do.
I also plan to experiment with Hippie Loaf, which sounds good to me but which my husband would hate.
4. How do you feel about Thanksgiving as a holiday? It's actually my favorite, because there is no pressure about gifts. :) Growing up, we were always with family and there were dozens of people; but this feels good too.
5. In this season of Thanksgiving, what are you grateful for? I'm grateful that K continues to improve, very slowly. That we went and worked out at the gym together this morning! For Fall weather and for all my family, and a winter Farmer's Market in Coppell tomorrow. For the break from work coming up. That empty streets in my university neighborhood coming up will mean I can practice riding my bike!
BONUS: Describe Aunt Bert's Thanksgiving. It sounds a bit like mine. She's not going to be doing what she might have been accustomed to for most of her life, but she is making the best of it. And looking to have some fun, too.
