Thanksgiving

Quick weekly summary: Monday, I saw Shira Jacobson, an old friend from Minnesota and Caltech, and her brother Natan. Wednesday, talked to Uncle Gordon for almost an hour. Thursday, had dinner with my cousin Brian at a restaurant/bar called Joey's. Friday, Uncle Paul took me to Round Table, and he and Auntie Nancy later told me some stories. Saturday morning, I took Grandma to a hospice in Chinatown, where she volunteers every week to help patients learn more about Jesus.

This Thursday will be my first Thanksgiving in Seattle. Mom is flying up.

From Empty fridge: win!

When I was growing up, Dad had an unconventional take on Thanksgiving: we shouldn't have a feast, but rather a fast. His thinking was that we appreciate things more when we don't have them, which is true, isn't it?

Ours was not a true fast: we had oatmeal/broth for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, and I think maybe more PB&J for dinner. I guess the bar for Thanksgiving was set so high that PB&J seemed like deprivation.

Of course, as a kid, I wanted a big feast, like all my friends seemed to have. Imagine being at school Wednesday and having all the kids and teachers talk about the fancy food they would be eating on Thursday (turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, "fixings," green bean casserole, cranberries . . . ), and also all the relatives they would visit. (None of our relatives were close by.) Imagine eating PB&J on Thursday night *knowing* that all the other kids were breaking wishbones and getting all their wishes granted! No wishes?!! That was the most important part!

But for at least some of our Thanksgivings, the feast was merely delayed. Thursday was a fasting day, but Wednesday and Friday were fair game. I remember waiting until midnight Friday to dig into some ice cream. And we might have turkey on Friday.

In the end, I really appreciate Dad's efforts. It did make me think, and now I have fond memories of it.

Maybe those Thanksgivings laid the seed for my current eating habits. The picture above is of the fridge that Jason and I share. My half has a bottle of lemon juice, some reconstituted frozen orange juice (with calcium), and an unseen apple. Jason's half has baking soda, some peppers, and one remaining Slim Fast shake.

Both Jason and I can afford to stock more food in the fridge, but we don't. And neither of us goes out to eat very often. (This week was a nice exception for me.) Jason may have his own reasons (like he's actually in Ohio right now). For my part, I guess I am trying to simplify things. I am also reminded of how manufacturers (like computer companies like Dell and Apple) strive to the keep a small inventory. Since I still have plenty of non-perishable food (white rice, oatmeal, cereal, ramen, sardines, peanut butter, multi-vitamins), I want to use that up more before buying more food. And once I finish my apple, I will probably buy some bananas, and I should probably get some broccoli. But I don't think our fridge will ever be full, which actually makes me very happy. :-)