November can be a tricky month

November has a few milestones in my life. It was my mother’s birthday on the 24th and also my wife’s birthday. It was also a time for the annual Thanksgiving feast, at least that’s what I remember as a kid.

 

We always had to go to my Grandma Herfindahl’s for Christmas Eve, so I’d guess that this was the tradeoff that kept peace in the household.

 

I can remember going to my Aunt Ruby and Uncle Harvey’s house for Thanksgiving. After feasting on turkey, mashed potatoes, scalloped corn, salads, cranberry relish, sweet potatoes with marshmallow and assorted dinner rolls, after the feast the men would retire to the living room while the women cleaned up after the meal. The Thanksgiving Day football game would be on. I liked football, so I occupied myself watching that. I can remember that the Lions and the Packers were playing on that particular day. Meanwhile my uncles, Harvey and Orville, would lie on the floor, passing gas and burping in honor of the great meal of which they had just partaken. 

 

The best was yet to come; there were pies, bars, cake and cookies to feast on. This was a time when the kids were allowed to indulge in those delicious sweets. My Uncle Harvey had bought one of those colored films that went over the TV screen to give a crude version of color TV. That TV screen now had green, red and blue tinting, but it was far from true colors,

When I think back to those days of family get-togethers, I get a warm feeling in my chest as I get nostalgic over good family times gone by. 

 

Until next time: Be safe and enjoy your Turkey Day festivities! It sounds like we could be in for a little winter weather in the not-so-distant future. I still enjoy seeing the first snowfall, but it is what comes later that I don’t cherish. Shoveling never bothered me, but as I grow older, I am less enthusiastic about the shoveling thing.

 

As a kid, snow meant sledding, playing pond hockey, building snow forts and, of course, snowball fights. Come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time that I have actually seen a snow fort.

 

Please take the time to remember our troops that are serving now and those that have served before them. They are the reason that we have all of the Freedoms that we enjoy today.