random thoughts – Day 1,717 – (Thursday) – day of thanks

The rain came for Thanksgiving, and hopefully it made a dent in the low water levels from the drought. I was thankful it wasn’t snow as I was driving to Fitchburg for dinner at my sister’s. A light, steady rain was preferable to snow while crawling along in the heavy and slow traffic on 495 south. It was less awful on route 2, which was a blessing.

During the drive, all 18 minutes and 47 seconds of "Alice’s Restaurant Massacree" played on the radio, a noontime tradition on one of the local radio stations. Side note, Alice Brock, the Alice who owned the restaurant in the song, passed away a week ago.

Dinner at my sister’s equivalent of a restaurant was plentiful and traditional. My sister made a turkey, baked potatoes, carrots, corn, gravy, rolls, and cranberry sauce. My eldest niece made a huge crockpot of macaroni and cheese, and I brought a crockpot of stuffing. We ate, we talked, we laughed at a cat video. This year, there was no Facetime call with the Vegas couple because the Vegas couple was right there at the table.

Leftovers!

The drive home also included rain, but the traffic was lighter than earlier. The now empty crockpot was accompanied by a container packed by my sister with the main components of dinner, another with cranberry sauce, a baked potato, and a container with two slices of pumpkin pie. 

My favorite part of big family dinners for Thanksgiving and Christmas is the leftovers. Tomorrow’s menu is set.

There was a lot for which to be thankful with most of the family around the dinner table sharing a delicious meal. The mood was relaxed and nobody had to dash home from work to arrive at dinner, or rush from dinner to get to a work shift. Once again, we neglected to take pictures of our group, which seems to have become one of our new traditions.