I decided to go to Walmart driving home from work yesterday. (In part, it's because Walmart decided not to open on Thanksgiving over the pandemic.) I've almost never done this on Thanksgiving Eve before; I'll never forget 2006 driving home from IBM in Fairfax, VA around 7PM; since a lot of people take the day off, I figured an easy drive home to MD via the Beltway. Wrong! It was stop and go driving about a mile away from the freeway. I guess lots of people were driving to family reunions; it took nearly 5 times the usual 30-45 minute commute.
I don't have a full-size refrigerator. If I did, I have often over the years bought whole turkeys (Walmart at last check had Butterballs at 99 cents/lb and a store-brand at 68 cents/lb. (It meant days of turkey for days at meals and/or freezing some.) With my compact refrigerator, I can't do that. So I mentioned in my last journal post, I didn't see turkey parts (beyond necks or breasts) in stock, so I thought I would check again or at least pick up one of their $5 rotisserie chickens, which I also enjoy and hadn't had in a while.
Now Walmart probably had turkeys out since before Halloween, but yes some people wait until the day before to buy turkeys. You would think they're like my former students, waiting until the last minute to work on their computer programming assignments. A lot of people were picking up fresh baked items, whipped cream and/or frozen desserts, basically not on my diet. (I have to admit wistfully passing by Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts.) They also had dozens of sweet potato pies out; I never cared much for the taste of sweet potatoes or yams. I will admit for longing for slices of freshly baked pumpkin pie or pecan pie.
Still, it was crowded far more than the usual weekend crowd, and some people were manically driving their carts, like they were on a Walmart shopping spree. I'm amazed there weren't any accidents.
It's been a while since I had Thanksgiving with family. I think I spent Thanksgiving with the folks through the time I earned my PhD, since I studied or worked in Texas. (Well, not when my Dad was assigned to work in Germany while I was at OLL.) For the most part since then I've lived out of state. The last family one I remember being to was at a sister's in-laws. In fact, I spent one Thanksgiving in Brazil; the hotel had a turkey out there for American tourists, but to be honest, it was pretty dried out and tasteless.
I still try to hang on to certain traditions like watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Not like the ones I remember from childhood; they had an LGBT float and rapper performances, but then there were spots with Dolly Parton, the Rockettes, a performance of "My Favorite Things" (I love classic musicals), and, of course, the obligatory Santa Claus appearance at the end.
There are lots of things I'm thankful for this year. I have a decent job that allows me to work remotely (for the most part) during the pandemic; there was a time I thought I would have to tap into retirement savings to make ends meet. My Mom has certain health issues and luckily 5 of my 6 siblings are now living in Texas and can help her out; my younger siblings are the best people I know, gifts from God and my parents. I live in a country where I can express opinions critical of political leadership.
Blog Notes
Blog readership has fallen considerable off last month's pace, just recently passing over the halfway mark. It would take a burst of readers over the remainder of the month just to reach September's numbers. But it does seem like a cyclical slump; I think in past Presidential cycles my numbers also fell after the election.
We are now starting the home stretch of blog post #5000. If the current post publication rate is consistent, we should reach this by mid-February. In the short term, each new post this year creates a new annual record. In fact, we are very close to post #500 of the year.
