“Remoted” Workday 171 / Day 254 (Wednesday)

Thanksgiving Eve is historically one of the best nights of the year to be out socializing. People come home for the holiday and it’s like a big reunion without the commitments of an RSVP and catered buffet. The “normal” Fitchburg Thanksgiving Eve hometown options to run into as many former classmates as possible would be stopping by one or more places including The Boulder Café, Slatttery’s, The Singapore, and any other place tossed out as an idea during the night. Visiting multiple places was not unheard of. Knowing there were options for the evening and staying home anyway was also not unheard of.

American Chop Suey -
comfort on a plate.

But this year, in the shitshow that is 2020, the stress-free Thanksgiving Eve plan involves cocooning on the couch with the dogs and streaming video. Supper was American Chop Suey, one of my favorite comfort foods. It was also lunch earlier today, and supper last night. There were differences to Mom’s which is the benchmark against which all American Chop Suey is measured, and mine was not quite as good as hers by just a smidge. There were no diced tomatoes and a thick spaghetti sauce was used, and there was no sliced American cheese to break into pieces and scatter on top, so Cheddar was sliced thin off the block, and a sprinkle of grated Parmesan, but despite the minor deficiencies of my kitchen, it was still damned good. 

Tomorrow, if I get super lazy, or the currently frozen lobster meat delivered in the Whole Foods order last night doesn’t thaw in time, there is enough American Chop Suey left for the loosely planned solo dinner of thankfulness. The solo aspect and caution exercised by staying in my own home is a planned choice and the food will be winging it. It will be a stress-free, quiet day of quiet thanks, just me and the pups, and that is okay. There is plenty of food to make or not, and new recipes to try, or not. There are Christmas decorations to be hung, or maybe not. Sure, it sounds like most of my weekends, and people have flat out asked, and not in a nice way, if I am “living my best life” or just wasting it.

In any event, the quiet holiday will not be boring. It will not be lonely. I’m used to solitude and accustomed to entertaining myself. The idea of zero commitments and no timetable for the day is liberating. The sacrifice of Thanksgiving Day is so maybe there can be some sort of safer gathering for Christmas. And if not, hopefully sometime soon afterward. It’s all good.