Show W r rr r r. r r Random r Thoughts I on J r Thanksgiving r by Merna Lee Dowding I F 1 My favorite Thanksgiving song as a achild achild achild and child was Over tOver the River Through the Woods It was easy to conjure up a mental picture so vivid in detail I could almost reach out and touch the participants How marvelous to be surrounded by white and drifted snow and bundled up with thick robes and quilts as the sleigh skimmed along on a fluffy cloud In my vision the grandmother and several aunties would have been preparing food for days The turkey would be home-grown home and for that matter all the rest of the food was too The array of Dies pies and puddings and c condiments bogg boggled ed my young mind I guess even more important than the food would have been the kitchen It was huge and of course it had an old Home Comfort coal range that was almost red hot from the continuous feast-day feast cooking There was a long wooden table with several different settings of dishes and silverware because because beuse be be- cause use no one had a large enough set to the whole clan gathered there My mental image was just that It must have been reality for someone else but not for me I do remember some very happy Thanksgivings though One that stands out in my mind took place in a large old kitchen-and kitchen it too had anold anold an old coal stove There was even a long longo o old oaken table and a variety of place settings The grandma and aunts all participated in the food preparation and of course it took days to prepare You see this was the first Thanksgiving ing after the e end of the Second W World War and all but one of our young our young men had returned home safely We gathered to give thanks and eat our fill One mother and father grieved but good health good health and long long- awaited peace were here at last so they did not inflict the others with their sadness God had been good to America and now it was time to repay him in word and thought |