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The season starts soon

Fri, 11/18/2016 - 4:10 pm

We are entering the best of times and the worst of times. We are entering a time of decisions, a time of totally ignoring rules, and a time of avoiding the scales, the mirrors, and the tight jeans we bought last summer.  We are entering the EATING SEASON. 

This is the beginning. Within the next six weeks we will be faced with numerous Thanksgiving feasts, at least three Christmas dinners, and numerous parties which include piles of chocolate, enough cream cheese to fill a large bathtub, and several gallons of sweet drinks. There is no way to avoid these events without offending our relatives, our church families, and those friends and co-workers who insist that we “drop by for a taste of the season.”

The Presbyterians got together last Wednesday for our annual Thanksgiving Dinner. A dozen turkeys were sacrificed. Celery and cornbread, and old dead biscuits were given new life in a dressing which grew so big it had to be shared with the Baptist. Every good cook on the membership roll came forward with a sinful desert, causing the local grocery stores to have to order emergency supplies of sugar, caramel, and whipped topping.

Thursday is Thanksgiving at the Senior Citizens Center. It’s a real bargain at four dollars a plate, so there will be many in our community who take advantage of the opportunity. The school children will have a turkey meal. The Rotary Club and the Optimists will feast on baked bird and stuffing.

By the time the real Thanksgiving Day happens along, most of us will be a little “over stuffed.” I think that’s the reason that many of us try to come up with alternative dishes. Only a few years ago, people started boiling oil ... not to keep away invading throngs, but to entertain the relatives and impress everyone with the sight of a turkey being lowered into a vat of hot grease. The resulting product is tender, moist, and delicious. You don’t get fried turkey at the Senior Citizen’s Center or the Church dinner. It’s different. It’s exotic. There’s hit of danger in the process.

We’ll have a few weeks to get over the Thanksgiving dinners before the parties begin. We’ll have Santa handing out candy canes, and our bosses handing out fruit cakes. We’ll eat enough decorated sugar cookies and homemade candies to keep the dentist in business for another eleven months. 

We’ll sing carols, visit the homebound, and watch the portrayals of the First Christmas. But everyone one of these celebratory events will culminate in some form of eating.

Of course, we’ll gather with our families for a Christmas dinner ... probably with ham ... and more turkey. We’ll wait a while after we eat before we conquer the deserts. We’ll swear that we’ll never eat again. 

This is my first Season of Eating since I ventured forth on my weight-loss process. I have worked too hard to ruin it over a cup of eggnog and a caramel tart. However, eating is necessary to live and is also the cement which holds us together in the Season of Love. So, I’ll eat a bite of pie, lick a caramel candy, and enjoy the aroma of the dressing as I move it around on my plate. After all, The Season comes but once a year.