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Multi-Day Thanksgiving, With Power Outage
Nov. 30th, 2024 03:21 pmFor the past couple years, we've been doing Thanksgiving on the Friday after. We have multiple people in the family who have to work Thanksgiving, you see, so Friday makes more sense. I've also discovered I like getting home from work on Wednesday and not having to dive into pre-Thanksgiving prep mode. I can use Thursday as a much more leisurely prep day. It's great!
My sister Bethany also flies in from Colorado on Thanksgiving Day itself. Why? Because the airports are empty. No lines, an entire row to yourself. It's the only way to fly, she says.
My mother and her husband live quite a ways away, and it's difficult for them to do the drive there and back in one day, so they came down on Thursday to spend the night as well. We had a houseful already!
For what was technically Thanksgiving dinner, I showcased my Detroit style pizza, and it was a definite hit. So were the margaritas!
We were just sitting down to eat when all the lights went out.
Yep, we'd lost power. I checked outside and saw that our neighborhood was dark, but the neighborhood across the road still had power. We guessed someone must've hit a utility pole or something. (Later we learned that was indeed what happened.)
I pulled out the candles, and we had dinner the old-fashioned way.
Bethany and I finally went for a walk together so we could talk about all the things siblings can only talk about when no one else is around. (Don't tell Mom.) We do this every year, and always walk through the woods behind our neighborhood to a little cemetery back there. It was a chilly night, but more brisk than cold. It was a fine field trip. :)
As we were coming back, the streetlamp at the boundary of my neighborhood popped into life. The light spread quickly to the rest of the houses and we had power!
We spent the rest of the evening around the dining room table playing Hearts. It was a cozy family evening.
The next morning I made pancakes with apple compote and bacon, and after cleanup, got the main prep going so dinner would be ready by two. I'm a martinet about this kind of thing. When I say, "We eat at two," I mean it! Anyone who's late can join in when they get there. I have a schedule on my phone that reminds me when to do what. It's a great system!
And lo, all the people arrived and all the food was ready and we ate and talked and visited until late in the evening. It was a perfect Thanksgiving!
My sister Bethany also flies in from Colorado on Thanksgiving Day itself. Why? Because the airports are empty. No lines, an entire row to yourself. It's the only way to fly, she says.
My mother and her husband live quite a ways away, and it's difficult for them to do the drive there and back in one day, so they came down on Thursday to spend the night as well. We had a houseful already!
For what was technically Thanksgiving dinner, I showcased my Detroit style pizza, and it was a definite hit. So were the margaritas!
We were just sitting down to eat when all the lights went out.
Yep, we'd lost power. I checked outside and saw that our neighborhood was dark, but the neighborhood across the road still had power. We guessed someone must've hit a utility pole or something. (Later we learned that was indeed what happened.)
I pulled out the candles, and we had dinner the old-fashioned way.
Bethany and I finally went for a walk together so we could talk about all the things siblings can only talk about when no one else is around. (Don't tell Mom.) We do this every year, and always walk through the woods behind our neighborhood to a little cemetery back there. It was a chilly night, but more brisk than cold. It was a fine field trip. :)
As we were coming back, the streetlamp at the boundary of my neighborhood popped into life. The light spread quickly to the rest of the houses and we had power!
We spent the rest of the evening around the dining room table playing Hearts. It was a cozy family evening.
The next morning I made pancakes with apple compote and bacon, and after cleanup, got the main prep going so dinner would be ready by two. I'm a martinet about this kind of thing. When I say, "We eat at two," I mean it! Anyone who's late can join in when they get there. I have a schedule on my phone that reminds me when to do what. It's a great system!
And lo, all the people arrived and all the food was ready and we ate and talked and visited until late in the evening. It was a perfect Thanksgiving!
