"A Turkey Sat On The Backyard Fence...

...and he sang this sad sad tuuuuune, Thanksgiving day is coming, gobble gobble gobble gobble, and I know I'll be eaten soooooone.  Gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble, I would like to run awayyyy. Gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble, I don't like Thanksgiving Day."

Okay, now it's officially Thanksgiving.  Mom used to call to sing in the morning when she was up cooking whatever she was bringing to the feast and watching the Macy's parade.  Her mom used to do it too.  I'd better call my kids and sing... I wonder if they're awake...  Dang it, I wanted to call Mom last night to ask her a question when I was putting her green bean casserole together but, no, she had to up and kick the bucket last year so I couldn't.  Now I don't even remember the question but, dang it, I miss her.  Sometimes more than others.  I'll be whipping up my famous sausage cornbread stuffing in a while and Durwood's got his crusty bread cubes all day-old dried to make pumpkin bread pudding.  I can't wait to try that; it's new this year.  I predict it'll be a favorite.  Don't you love bread pudding?  I do.  I also made a little bit of toffee sauce from a different pumpkin pudding recipe I found online and I substituted dark rum for the vanilla it calls for and, oh my, a bit extra splashed into the pot.  Oh dear, what to do?  Yeah, we'll force ourselves to eat it anyway.  It's just to drizzle over the pudding.  It smelled so yummy, licking the spoon was delicious.  Dark rum smells so good.  We watched a story on How They Do It about how they make rum the other day, we wished we were there in Trinidad to see it in person but we weren't, we were in the kitchen.  I've always wanted to go to Trinidad for the steel pan competition, ever since I saw a story on NatGeo a bazillion years ago.  The music makes me want to dance.  Okay, now I can barely concentrate because I'm listening to steel pan music and bopping in my seat... moving on.  Are you hosting the feast?  Going to a feast with something warm and yummy riding in the back?  It's going to be a record warm day today here.  I wish you good weather too.

November 22--India, Sankh.  "If you put it up by your ear you can hear the ocean," Anna said.  "You're trying to trick me," said Trudy, her little face screwed up in a frown.  Like all big sisters Anna regularly played tricks on her younger sister.  "No I'm not, Trudy, really.  Hold it up and listen; it sounds like the ocean."  She lifted Trudy's hands in hers and fitted the opening of the Queen Conch shell to her ear.  Trudy turned to look into the shell as if waiting for something to jump out at her.  Reassured she finally bent her head to put her hear to the shell.  Her eyes grew wide and her breathing slowed.  "Anna, it is the ocean.  It is."  She turned to look at the shell.  "How did you get it in there?"  Just then Anna dumped a pail of water over Trudy's head.  Trudy dropped the shell and stood still for a breath, then she took off running to the house.  "I'm telling Mom," she said.

Oh, the big sister days.  I don't miss them and I was the big sister.  I'm glad to be as old as I am and in the place I am in life.  Except some days I'd rather be my age in a warmer beachy place.  Happy Thanksgiving to all!
--Barbara Sue