Yesterday was that very American holiday, Thanksgiving. At my mom's house, we began the day with a breakfast cooked by my brother, who called my house just as I was settling down with the newspapers and my own breakfast. I went ahead and drank my coffee as I read the papers and then dressed and went over to my mom's for our morning repast. The cat was curled up in his favorite chair, looking perfectly adorable as he usually does when he's asleep, and for once he didn't seem to mind my petting him and telling him how beautiful he is. (He's a long haired black cat who now sports some grey hairs as he's now, in cat years, an elderly gent who seems to sleep a lot these days.) After breakfast, my brother, his girlfriend and I went on a walk, choosing to go to a neighborhood just south of downtown that has some beautiful old homes. Upon parking, we observed a cat who came up right behind a squirrel who either didn't notice or didn't mind the cat being right behind it. The cat very gently touched the squirrel's back and it didn't flinch a bit. We were amazed to see how the squirrel didn't even seem to react to the cat not only being right there behind it but touching it gently with its paw. Eventually the squirrel did react and ran but the cat ran right after it, nearly catching it a few times. The cat then pursued other squirrels who allowed it to get remarkably close before running. I suspect that the squirrels must know the cat and be used to it, because I have never seen any squirrel who allowed a cat to get anywhere even near it like that. We got out of the car after this spectacle and the cat came up to us and was extremely affectionate, purring and rubbing against us. It was all white with some grey spots on it and obviously very loveable with adorable pink paws and a pink nose. Continuing with our walk, the cat did follow us a bit but then finally stopped and went a different direction. We were quite afraid that the cat would follow us through our entire walk and get lost, but it did have a little tag on its collar, so it would be able to be returned to its owner just in case it did wander off. So we finished our walk and I went back to my apartment to read a bit and take a shower and naturally I fell alsleep reading as I seem wont do to these days.
Our Thanksgiving dinner was ready at an unusually early 4 p.m. We had a 4 lb. turkey breast, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and a dish we jokingly call "Company Jello". This consists of strawberries, bananas, pineapples and peaches mixed in with strawberry jello. You then pour this mixture into a casserole dish, let it harden, then spread sour cream on top of that and pour the rest of the jello mixture on top of that and let it harden. It's become a holiday favorite around our house and I can't imagine any special occasion without it. Needless to say, we stuffed ourselves into the usual post-dinner stupor (accompanied by pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top for dessert) and then settled down to watch another Thanksgiving tradition, the 1938 version of "Robin Hood" starring Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, Olivia DeHavilland and Claude Rains. All those wonderful scenes of feasting are a good part of why this movie became sort of a holiday tradition when we were growing up. It seemed like there was some channel on TV every year that showed this movie and "A Man For All Seasons" with Paul Scofield and Robert Shaw. These period pieces always feature great scenes of feast halls and tables laden with tons of food and people satiating themselves with plenty of good fare with merry entertainment to accompany one's feasting, perfect viewing for the Thanksgiving holiday that seems dedicated to overeating and then falling into a post feast tryptophan laden stupor. As much as I rail against overeating and obesity most of the rest of the year, holidays are the one time when I can eat far too much food and not live to regret it. Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving seem to be the three holidays where I love to stuff myself silly and enjoy that contented feeling afterward of sitting on the sofa digesting a good meal and reminding myself that I can always work it off later. After all, it's only a few times of year that seem dedicated to the very idea of overeating. The rest of the year I can do my best to eat in moderation and try to keep my weight down. Right now, however, I have a monumental task before me as I need to lose 12 pounds gained this year that have begun to have a negative effect on my knees, so as we go into this holiday season, I'm going to have to step it up a bit and work even harder to make sure that I don't put on extra holiday pounds. Therein lies the challenge before me!
Yesterday was that very American holiday, Thanksgiving. At my mom's house, we began the day with a breakfast cooked by my brother, who called my house just as I was settling down with the newspapers and my own breakfast. I went ahead and drank my coffee as I read the papers and then dressed and went over to my mom's for our morning repast. The cat was curled up in his favorite chair, looking perfectly adorable as he usually does when he's asleep, and for once he didn't seem to mind my petting him and telling him how beautiful he is. (He's a long haired black cat who now sports some grey hairs as he's now, in cat years, an elderly gent who seems to sleep a lot these days.) After breakfast, my brother, his girlfriend and I went on a walk, choosing to go to a neighborhood just south of downtown that has some beautiful old homes. Upon parking, we observed a cat who came up right behind a squirrel who either didn't notice or didn't mind the cat being right behind it. The cat very gently touched the squirrel's back and it didn't flinch a bit. We were amazed to see how the squirrel didn't even seem to react to the cat not only being right there behind it but touching it gently with its paw. Eventually the squirrel did react and ran but the cat ran right after it, nearly catching it a few times. The cat then pursued other squirrels who allowed it to get remarkably close before running. I suspect that the squirrels must know the cat and be used to it, because I have never seen any squirrel who allowed a cat to get anywhere even near it like that. We got out of the car after this spectacle and the cat came up to us and was extremely affectionate, purring and rubbing against us. It was all white with some grey spots on it and obviously very loveable with adorable pink paws and a pink nose. Continuing with our walk, the cat did follow us a bit but then finally stopped and went a different direction. We were quite afraid that the cat would follow us through our entire walk and get lost, but it did have a little tag on its collar, so it would be able to be returned to its owner just in case it did wander off. So we finished our walk and I went back to my apartment to read a bit and take a shower and naturally I fell alsleep reading as I seem wont do to these days.
Our Thanksgiving dinner was ready at an unusually early 4 p.m. We had a 4 lb. turkey breast, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and a dish we jokingly call "Company Jello". This consists of strawberries, bananas, pineapples and peaches mixed in with strawberry jello. You then pour this mixture into a casserole dish, let it harden, then spread sour cream on top of that and pour the rest of the jello mixture on top of that and let it harden. It's become a holiday favorite around our house and I can't imagine any special occasion without it. Needless to say, we stuffed ourselves into the usual post-dinner stupor (accompanied by pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top for dessert) and then settled down to watch another Thanksgiving tradition, the 1938 version of "Robin Hood" starring Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, Olivia DeHavilland and Claude Rains. All those wonderful scenes of feasting are a good part of why this movie became sort of a holiday tradition when we were growing up. It seemed like there was some channel on TV every year that showed this movie and "A Man For All Seasons" with Paul Scofield and Robert Shaw. These period pieces always feature great scenes of feast halls and tables laden with tons of food and people satiating themselves with plenty of good fare with merry entertainment to accompany one's feasting, perfect viewing for the Thanksgiving holiday that seems dedicated to overeating and then falling into a post feast tryptophan laden stupor. As much as I rail against overeating and obesity most of the rest of the year, holidays are the one time when I can eat far too much food and not live to regret it. Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving seem to be the three holidays where I love to stuff myself silly and enjoy that contented feeling afterward of sitting on the sofa digesting a good meal and reminding myself that I can always work it off later. After all, it's only a few times of year that seem dedicated to the very idea of overeating. The rest of the year I can do my best to eat in moderation and try to keep my weight down. Right now, however, I have a monumental task before me as I need to lose 12 pounds gained this year that have begun to have a negative effect on my knees, so as we go into this holiday season, I'm going to have to step it up a bit and work even harder to make sure that I don't put on extra holiday pounds. Therein lies the challenge before me! 
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