A Fine Harvest

Yesterday I worked half a day and then met Ms Judy at Peppers for lunch.  Let me just say that I would not recommend Peppers.  But we had fun and then headed for JoAnn's Fabric.  We headed northerly on Capital Circle towards Centerville Road.  The traffic was horrendous.  There was obviously something more then just the day before Thanksgiving.   We joked that the way they rob banks around here that was probably it.  Well it did turn out to be a bank robbery with a bomb.  But we were no where near it.  


First we stopped at the ABC and bought champagne, brandy, vodka and rum.  Then we head to JoAnn's and  bought yarn for scarves and shawls.   After our craft excursion Ms Judy went to finish her to do list and I headed to Beall's to look for the guy's shirts.  I managed to find some I liked and came on home.  


Tuesday night I made a chocolate ganache cake along with the breads, but still needed to ice the cake and I wanted to make some olives in olive oils and herbs.  I knew that Ms Moon had bought some Rosemary bread and it is really good with the preserved olives.  


I drove over to the Moons and it was a warm and lovely night.  I got there on time and I was not the first to come, there were already lots of people crowded around the island of the kitchen tasting all the different food brought.  The island overflowed with cheese and breads, olives, pasta, salads, cake and stuffed mushrooms and more food then I could begin to name.  


There were babies and young children, older children and adults from 21 to 60, at least.  Everyone embraced each other as they entered from the porch off the kitchen.  Long strong meaningful embraces with faces looking into faces with smiles familiar and loved.  Laughter filled the large white old house and overflowed into the back yard where Mr Moon cooked oysters over the fire.  Soon everyone with filled plates and glasses pulled chairs up around the fire and before long the singing and playing began.  Violins, a cello, guitars, banjos and mandolins.  Song followed song, "somewhere over the rainbow", an old blue grass number, then a couple of blues.  Then a catchy number that had me up and dancing, champagne flute filled with bubbly, Ms Moon jumped in and then Ms May and we spun and danced as the  moon slipped out from behind the trees and clouds to fill the space with a silvery glow and I knew at that moment when I do take my last rasping breath of lung cancer,  many years from now, I will remember the night I danced under the moonlight with Ms Moon and May, sipping champagne, glowing with the air around me thick with humidity and warmth for a Thanksgiving cornucopia of abundance of food and drink and music and song, love and laughter and dancing.  And Friends.  


Life is so special when you are surrounded by friends who truly love each other.  Some have been friends for 30 years and more, others just a few years.  But when you meet someone and truly love them and believe like them in dancing in the moonlight and celebrating life.   And food.  and drink.  and music with singing and dancing.  and love.  Magic surrounds you.  


And last night was magical.


This morning I got up late, almost 9:00 am.  Very late for me.  I chopped and cooked and stirred and poured.  A cheese and fruit platter served with hot rustic bread.  Olives and pickles, grilled and picked asparagus.  Turkey.  Cornbread stuffing filled with lots of veggies and cranberries.  Mashed potatoes.  gravy.  creamed onions with wild mushrooms.  roasted veggies.  roasted garlic in the clove.  Pecan pie.  flan. a Puerto Rican version of egg nog, with coconut, yum! pigeon peas and rice.  sweet potatoes.  cranberry relish.  mustard greens.  A bountiful feast for three woman.  Jack and Jan came by and shared champagne and wine and pie.  Then my friend Bob, from work came for pie and left some lovely bread.  We watched football and ate lots of delicious food.  I wore myself out, and it felt good.  it felt good to cook.  To chop and saute, roast and baste.  I had brined the turkey the night before in Mad Housewife wine.  I marinated fruit in brandy for the sangria today.  And we had a relaxing meal, and it was good sitting and talking to my friends on this day of abundance and fellowship.


And I am thankful:
to be strong and healthy and alive
to have lung cancer
to dance in the moonlight with friends
for my soul mate
to talk and laugh on the phone with friends
for my family
for my dogs
for my cats
and chickens
and fish
and rabbits
passion
passion for cooking
passion for gardening
passion for my friends
passion for the Opera House and the Stage Company
everything I accomplished this past year
all the accomplishments they have made in the treatment of cancer
all the accomplishments that are still to be made in the treatment of cancer
for fuzz on my head
for turkey leftovers
for warm weather and gardening
for another year filled with abundance
for love
for you, each of you in my life
for my life
yes, I am thankful for the full and wonderful life I have lived 
and I am hopeful for a longer list of things I am thankful for next year.
Happy Thanksgiving.