Thanks-giving

A server running past me down the kitchen line laughing crazily to herself sums up my Thanksgiving. I worked and it was very, very busy. Not overwhelmingly so, more seasoned colleagues claimed later, but they didn't seem as confident in the moment. A diner ended up not wanting a pint of stout he'd ordered and it sat on the server counter winking, beguiling, tormenting until one of us threw it away. I started pouring out an order of decaf coffees and then realized 1) I'd already filled the order and 2) the people had left the restaurant ages ago.

Finally got off work and blearily made my way to the boys' house. It was like "A Christmas Carol" or something else by Dickens. For example: A cheery light beckoned in the windows and out poured the smell of food: potatoes! stuffing! peppers! spices! turkey! A wee exploited beggar child crouching in the gutter sniffed the air and was content, etc. Meanwhile, I toiled up the walkway, battling the wind, my mind filled with the restaurant, a thousand dramas I'd orbited like a satellite, my head continually bent over a dirty table (and the next and the next), all the time wondering if there would be enough silverware. A dog's welcoming bark woke me to the present. I walked through the door, my scarf tucked under my chin, the dogs leaping at my ankles (except for Sasha whose head reaches my waist. She was standing on my feet and pretending, politely, not to realize it). One of the men vacated a chair, another washed a plate, the chair-giver filled the plate with food, a third man handed me a knife. "It's clean," he said. A fourth offered me champagne. Then I kind of snuffled into my mashed potatoes and missed everything and everyone in the world.

End my Dickens novel.

No, it really was a good Thanksgiving. And I am thankful for:

... the homeless people who yell at me (in various cities I've lived in) encouraging things such as: "SATAN KEEPS YOU BEAUTIFUL!" "STAY CLASSY!" and, my favorite, "I THINK YOU DROPPED SOMETHING!!!! (pause) OH! It was YOUR SMILE. Which is a shame. BECAUSE YOU WEAR IT SO WELL!!!" Although Satan keeping me beautiful gets points for originality.

... pet name websites ("Does your dog run around in circles, bark for no reason at all and poop on your bed? BONKERS would be a perfect name for him!")

... the novel I'm reading right now

... coffee and the way coffee lends itself so particularly to book reading, waking up and non-threatening interactions with other people (your coffee drinking companion will probably never finish up her cup of coffee, throw an arm over your shoulder and leer into your face screeching, "How about we stumble on over to the next coffee house and get WASTED!" It just doesn't happen)