Without a doubt, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love that the day is all about food, specifically a big meal that takes hours to prepare. This year we’re going to Winner, South Dakota, pheasant capital of the world and scene of nearly every Thanksgiving from my childhood.
My family would make the three-hour drive from Watertown to Winner, where we would meet my father’s sister Sharon, her husband Bill, and my cousin Tonya, who was six months younger than me and six months older than my sister Michele. My sister and I were also so excited to see Tonya. She lived on a mountain in Colorado and owned a horse and seemed so cool. As teenagers we’d compare hair products and swap copies of Seventeen magazine. While our parents were out pheasant hunting, the cousins would walk to downtown Winner, where we buy cheap cosmetics at the drugstore and pizzas and snack foods at The Outlaw, part grocery store/part hitching post.
Never mind that Tonya would spend her time befriending each us as she pitted my sister, brother, and me against each other. We looked forward to this manipulation every year.
My father inherited my grandparents’ home, but I haven’t been back for Thanksgiving since 1984. We were given an opportunity to spend Thanksgiving there this year, and though I was reluctant, John persuaded me to go. I’m really looking forward to the trip. The drive is eight hours, each way, so I will be reading at least one book aloud to John as well as a few books aloud to the boys. We’re bringing tons of music and snacks. Got to have snacks.
There’s a big yard so the boys can play football with Uncle Nik. I understand that the weather will be cooperative for outdoorsy stuff, which is good because there is a plan afoot to walk some of my father’s 2,000 acres of grasslands. I’m also bringing wine, cheese, books, magazines, movies, board games, card decks, knitting gear, computer, and the kitchen sink.
My mother and I have been planning the meal for a few weeks. The menu features a wild turkey courtesy of my hunter-gatherer father, garlic mashed potatoes, twice-baked sweet potatoes, cornbread stuffing with dried apples, sage, and pecans, green beans, and rolls with pumpkin and pecan pies for dessert. John and I are bringing a champagne and wine, and I’m really excited about the O’Reilly’s pinot noir from Oregon, a reprise of something we drank recently.
John and I should be packing right now—it’s 11:30 p.m.—but we’re watching Bones and House instead. In the case we don’t have wi-fi for the next five days, have a very happy Thanksgiving. Until then, check out some of the tunes on this mix CD I made earlier today.
Thanksgiving Monkey Mix, volume one
1. Ana NG (They Might Be Giants)
2. Give Me Flowers While I’m Living (The Knitters)
3. Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash)
4. The Dap Dip (Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings)
5. Suzannah’s Still Alive (The Kinks)
6. Wilderness (Sleater Kinney)
7. Demolition Man (The Police)
8. Thanks for the Night (The Damned)
9. Wings of a Dove (Madness)
10. Apple Tree (Wolfmother)
11. Hollywood [Africa] (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
12. I Can’t Stand It (Velvet Underground)
13. Goin’ Out West (Tom Waits)
14. London’s Burning (The Clash)
15. Beautiful Day (U2)
16. Everybody Ona Move (Michael Franti)
17. Boyz (M.I.A.)
18. Magnolia (Apollo Sunshine)
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