Thanksgiving At Felicia's

Rembember when you were small and your family loaded into their car (or whatever) and went to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving? Maybe, you are the grandma and it’s your family that’s coming to your house. Maybe, you’re like me and Grandma and Mama are both deceased, and it’s either your responsibility or perhaps the responsibility of your sibling to host the family gathering.

Several years ago, my sister volunteered her home for Thanksgiving with the understanding Barbara and I would host everyone for Christmas. Our arrangement worked well enough until my niece got married, and she wanted us to come to her house. Of course she still wanted my sister to do the bulk of the cooking, but, this way, she could spend Thanksgiving with her family as well as several members of her husband’s family. The new arrangement started with our 2008 Thanksgiving and worked so well we allowed Felicia to host our respective families for Thanksgiving 2009.

We only had thirteen people for the Thanksgiving meal this year, due to the rotation system that prevents certain family members being present every year, as they live too far away to attend two different family gatherings in the same day. We had enough food to feed thirteen more people though only eight of our regulars were unaccounted for.

Felicia’s husband, Cullen Pollard, led us in the saying of grace before our meal and mentioned our collective thankfulness for the blessings of our nation and our families.

My, oh my, at the food we had! Sara Sue prepared a spiral sliced baked ham, and roasted a turkey breast, while Felicia heated the smoked turkey breast. Additionally we had ~ a grape salad, idiot's delight frozen salad, cornbread dressing, hash brown casserole, chicken pot pie, sweet potato casserole, sausage balls, cranberry sauce, carrot soufflé, corn & green bean casserole, baked ham, gravy, mashed potatoes and Barbara Anne’s homemade rolls. Desserts were plentiful as well ~ Chocolate layer cake, sweet potato pie (my favorite), pumpkin pie, pumpkin roll, and pecan pie, all made by Sister Sue.

Except for Sara’s cornbread dressing snafu, it may have been the grandest of our Thanksgiving feasts. The greenish colored dressing would perhaps have been more appetizing had we been celebrating Christmas, but it was edible. Sara blames what she described as a late-night-purchased, off-brand, poultry seasoning for the color. Though she said it looked normal before she went to bed Wednesday night, it developed an odd hue by daylight.

In addition to our family we were privileged to share our bounty with two family friends, Sam Lester of Pontotoc and Natalie Carpenter of Oxford. Sam is a friend of my son, Jason, and Natalie, whose Ripley, TN family lives too far from Oxford for a one-day trip, is a friend of Felicia’s. These two were made to feel at home with us, and we’d love to have either or both of them back again.

Thanksgiving 2009

The Christmas Season is already in full gear, at least on the retail side, but it wasn’t always like that. There was a time when Christmas was celebrated far more simply than today. We shouldn’t blame the merchants for the commercialization of Christmas; consumers are as much to blame as anyone. It is this need many feel to plunge headlong into buying and decorating for Christmas even before Thanksgiving that I find disturbing.

My favorite holiday is Christmas, for reasons too many to enumerate here, but I particularly like the gift-giving and gift-receiving aspects of Christmas. I also appreciate the sounds of the season, Christmas Carols and the Holiday Greetings including the generic term, “Happy Holidays.” Yes, I prefer “Merry Christmas,” but even the generic term adds to the feeling of Christmas.

It seems we need not only the month of December to celebrate Christmas, but we require more and more of November in order to prepare for December. All this serves to shortchange Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving should be celebrated as a religious holiday. It’s more than a feast day to gather with family and/ or friends. It’s a day to honor and to thank Almighty God for, historically, a bountiful harvest and presently for all that we have and enjoy in this great land.

God, not “the government,” has richly blessed our nation. Though, the liberals of this land would have us believe they are the source of our blessings, Christian hearts know otherwise.

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for my salvation and all that God has entrusted to me, a loving wife and two wonderful children, a son-in-law, and three granddaughters. Beyond my immediate family, I’m thankful for my sister, two brothers, and all who comprise their respective families. I’m thankful for my one remaining uncle and for a passel of cousins. For good health and a house much finer than I ever imagined, that I proudly call home, and for work that is rewarding, I am truly thankful. For friends, close and far away, some I’ve never met face to face but are friends, nonetheless, I am also thankful.

My prayer is that God will see fit to continue to bless all in my household and all my relatives and friends. I pray that our nation will soon recognize that all we have is a gift from God, and will truly praise Him.

This Thanksgiving Day, my family will join my sister’s family (those of us not obligated to be elsewhere) to celebrate the day in the home of my niece and her husband, Felicia and Cullen Pollard. I’ve not seen the menu, but it’s sure to include turkey, ham, cornbread dressing, sweet potatoes, creamed potatoes, green bean casserole, and Barbara Anne’s homemade rolls. In a typical year, there are five or more desserts (seven pictured above), sweet potato pie, pecan pie, pumpkin roll, and a couple of cakes. Somehow, I must restrain myself and not overeat.

Know Your Limitations

Working out of my territory is not without its challenges. Consider finding a motel and decent places to eat when you’re four-hundred fifty miles from home, have never been at that location before, and your coworkers are not staying in the same town as you are. And, being on the eastern side of the Central Standard Time zone means it’s dark way earlier than you expect, so finding your way around at night in an unfamiliar environment has its own set of perils.

While the foregoing reasons are sufficient for illustrating my point, they pale in comparison to a challenge I stumbled onto today. I am, by nature, curious about how things work and consider it a challenge to fix anything that needs fixing. Couple this with my problem-solving brain and most anything can happen.

The Florida retailer I’m working with this week owns a family business. He and his wife and their son successfully manage their modest IGA supermarket and are “doing well.” They’re in the process of adding gas pumps on the parking lot of the supermarket, which of itself can top more than a half-million dollars in startup costs. The RV that they drove to Mississippi earlier this year to meet me at one of my fuel retailers is more than modest. By my standards, they’re wealthy, but they don’t flaunt it. They dress modestly and except for some stone-heavy rings, you’d think they’re just regular folks.

My coworker and I were to join the owners of the supermarket for lunch, and, thinking it was later than it was, the wife asked us, “When do y’all want to eat, eleven, eleven-thirty or twelve?”

I thought it a strange question as it wasn’t even ten o’clock.

“What time is it?” she asked. “I haven’t changed my watch back off daylight saving time. I need to, but I can’t get the stem pulled out to change the time.”

“SuperWayne” hearing a damsel in distress, responded, “Let me give it a try.”

She extended her arm, and I wedged a fingernail behind the stem, but nothing budged.

“Here, let me take it off,” she offered.

She unbuckled the gold-link band and slipped the watch off her wrist.

Again, I wedged a nail between the watch and the stem and pried, to no avail. Thinking I would only break a nail if I added more pressure, I reached for my pocket knife. I gently slid the blade into the same area where my fingernails had failed and applied a little outward pressure.

I remember thinking, “I’d hate to break the stem.”

Simultaneously, my bifocals focused squarely on the brand name on the face of the watch. It read ROLEX.

“Oh, Lord, thank you for stopping my reckless behavior,” I prayed or maybe I didn’t, but I should have.

I, humbly, handed the watch to her, stating, “I recommend you take this to a jeweler and let him get the stem pulled out. I don’t want to break anything.”

Friends, that’s the only time in my life I’ve held a genuine Rolex in my hands, and I’m truly thankful I didn’t damage it. On my salary, there’s no place in the family budget for Rolex repairs.
This afternoon, her husband was in the store and she mentioned her timepiece problem to him. He quickly fixed it. It seems he, too, has a Rolex.

“You have to turn the stem backwards,” he explained. “That unlocks it, and it pops out so you can reset the time. You just have to remember to lock it back afterwards. Not doing so is how I got water into mine.”

SuperWayne, Superman, and other Super Men, know their limitations. And, it is how they handle those limitations that make them SUPER.

Poor Communications

It was just one of those days, where it seems everything I saw was funny in one way or another. Driving to Indianola this morning, I stopped at an intersection where a new house is under construction on Hwy. 32 west of Bruce, MS. The ‘tin’ roof is in place, but the windows are not. What struck me as funny was the chimney sitting some distance away from the house.

I should have taken a picture right then and there, but I waited until returning home this afternoon, and the result may give you a better idea of why my car needs washing than what I though was an odd sighting.

If you think the Postal System’s a joke, or that most government workers are less than helpful, let alone necessary, then you’ll appreciate my thought. Otherwise, stop reading now, and go back to viewing news feeds on Facebook.

In my mind I saw two different government agencies directing the work on the house. One was in charge of the fireplace and chimney and the other was responsible for getting the house ‘in the dry.’ Apparently, they failed to communicate with each other. Hilarious? No, but I though it was humorous.

Were the picture clearer, you’d know the chimney is all that remains from an old home place, which partially explains why it’s standing near the new construction. But, unless it has sentimental value, I expect it will soon be taken down.

I have the feeling that should the Senate okay what will become a government-run Health Care System, I’ll be looking for lots more laughable sightings, and doing my darnedest to stay healthy.

Class Of '60 Monthly Meetings

The PHS Class of ’60 would like to invite its members and spouses to start gathering on a monthly basis. A full-fledged class reunion is scheduled for Memorial Day, 2010. However, several classmates are discussing the formation of a monthly meeting, where graduates and spouses would come together for a time of fellowship that included a meal.

Right now, consideration is being given to setting a date, such as the second or third Friday of every month for the meeting, and we are looking at possibly meeting at a local restaurant for a noon meal.

We feel with the Holiday Season fast approaching, it might be best to start our meetings in January. Once a routine is established, it will be easier for the class meetings to continue even when holidays create attendance interruptions.

Because a high percentage of our class lives in or near Pontotoc, we anticipate a monthly meeting would be well attended. We also welcome classmates, who for various reasons were unable to graduate with the class of 1960.

More information will follow, but persons interested in the January meeting should contact one of the following:

Laney Lemons Sims
Phyllis Crane Wardlaw
Linda Jones Wingo
Wayne Carter
Larry Easterling
Terry Stewart

Needs Ironing

As I stopped by the laundry room to check on some clothes in the dryer, my wife was already unloading them. She handed me a shirt, one I’ve taken to wearing for yard work, largely because it requires ironing. Since buying it, I’ve learned to purchase wash and wear shirts that are either wrinkle free or wrinkle resistant.

Looking at the wrinkled shirt, I pouted, “This one needs ironing.”

Quick as a wink, Barbara responded, “Let me put it back in and maybe it’ll come out ironed, next time.”

I hung the shirt temporarily over my bedpost and returned to the laundry room where she was still removing clothes from the dryer.

Tapping her on the shoulder and with only a hint of a grin I stated , “In this house…I’m the one who makes sarcastic remarks!”

“But, I learned it all from you!” she said.

Immediately, I was reminded of the scripture, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Gal. 6:7