Breaking news: We are boycotting Amazon, Target and Home Depot – just through Monday. The goal is to send a message that we, the consumer, have power. If you, as I do, want to get a head start on your Christmas or Hanukkah shopping, there are so many small businesses with sales right now! I recommend Colleen Rothschild’s Radiant Cleansing Balm, 30% off. Great for makeup removal; smells glorious.
How was your Thanksgiving? Hope it was either peaceful and restorative, or celebratory and exhausting. Here’s our table, halfway set. I forget what interrupted me, but I’m sure it was whatever I was supposed to be doing Thursday morning according to my very detailed plan.
So, if you have a login for the social network, Bluesky, I highly recommend this thread of holiday emergencies. Made me laugh so hard. And then we narrowly averted one of our own.
As my sister says, the singular goal of family holidays is avoiding ER visits. We made it. But I will say that standing in my Haviana flip-flops, on a wood floor covered with super-heated glass shards, burning olive oil, and very hot cubes of butternut squash, briefly I wondered “Am I bleeding?” I had not expected the bottom of my old Pyrex roasting pan to explode down from the sides when I pulled the squash out of the oven. Luckily my sister shouted at me, “Don’t move,” and then my brother-in-law, who was behind me in the kitchen wearing Blundstone boots, came forward, picked me up around my ribcage, and carried me to a glass-free zone.
We saw later that the glass had melted the soles of his shoes here and there.
So this year I am grateful to still have both my feet and all my blood. I use them both, rather a lot. I also think that moment added something to our gathering, like vinegar in spaghetti sauce. A pang, but welcome. I sat at one end of our table, and watched the little stream of lit tea lights waver as the night grew dark. That image will stay with me. Then we moved to the sofas, as no amount of sentiment can compensate for numb seats, and FaceTimed the people we loved in Los Angeles and New Jersey.
That night will sustain me. Also, my kitchen floor is now cleaner than it has ever been. I am thankful from the top of the sky to my toes.
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.