Not This Year

Our Sueb0b tweeted last night to get people to tell their Turkey Day Disasters. I think I hit that hashtag too hard.

I told her the 140 character version of this story: The most disastrous Thanksgiving I had found me lying on the floor of the kitchen. My fellow cook was showering and something was smoking and I hadn't figured out what yet so if I lay on the floor I was under the smoke line and could breathe. (Thank you elementary school fire safety lectures!) While I lay there I was on the phone. On one line was my ex, J. He had been piloting a balloon in the parade and, due to windy conditions, it had hit a pole, been punctured, and collapsed. He had to stay there alone in frigid Columbus Circle sitting on his sad, dead balloon until the parade was over and a truck could be dispatched to pick him up. I was trying to talk him out of bailing on the Thanksgiving gathering we were having that was timed specifically to accommodate his schedule with the parade. On the other line was my mother. She was filling me in on the fact that she was in the hospital. She'd been there for a couple of days with a condition that was not precisely diagnosed at that time. This was the first I was hearing about it. Had there not been a major holiday it's unclear how long she would have waited to spill the beans.

There's an upside, though, to every one of those stories. Shortly after I got off the phone we discovered that there was a pin-sized hole in the roasting pan causing drippings to splat on the oven flames. We tossed a cookie sheet under it, opened a window, and enjoyed a smoke-free conclusion to our preparations. J came to dinner. While I've been writing this I've been keeping one eye on this year's parade to see if I can see him. I don't know what balloon he's piloting this year but I know he's out there. MamaKizz is en route to Chez Kizz. She's about to get on the train for the middle leg of her journey. Her condition was diagnosed and is controlled and she's just fine. Hopefully fine enough to help me with the vacuuming.

A lot to be thankful for this year. Every year.

What about you?

*Photo from my walk to the volunteer location this morning.