It was a frustrating stressful day at work. It seems as though I get nowhere on the million humongous projects that are supposed to be done before I go home for Christmas in less than two weeks. Then, it started raining and the power was cut for the whole neighborhood. I stopped to buy a chocolate bar on the way back to my house, as consolation for being wet, unsuccessful at work, and so far from home.
When I got home, the power was still out, and would continue to be until the next morning. The chocolate bar was so disgustingly stale, that even I threw it out. There was nothing to do.
I decided to make Thanksgiving dinner from scratch. No recipes, no light, no special shopping trip. I dug through the freezer for the three last slices of bread, found some cashews on top of the cabinet, and added to that the more than year-old dried black mushrooms that smelled like smoke and had at least one feather in them. (There are certain advantages to cooking in the dark.) I had green beans and potatoes, and a collection of assorted powdered soups.
In the end, it was all edible! The texture for the mashed potatoes was off, and the gravy too salty. The green bean casserole had too many mushrooms in it and tasted strange, but the whole wheat-cashew-mushroom stuffing was fantastic. After that, I called my family, and went to bed happy.
Life really is what you make it.
And even on the worst days, I'm more blessed than I'll ever know.
Happy belated Thanksgiving!
