Thanksgiving Replay

Thanksgiving. If you're not eating Whole Foods stuffing at dinner you're doing it wrong. Going home for Thanksgiving always seems to fall at the most opportune time, right in between final projects and the too-tired-of-school-to-carry-on feeling. I worked all week to get as much homework done as possible, but it's a season where it seems no matter how much effort I put into chipping away at the iceberg of reading and papers, more ice rises to the surface. I don't have lots of beautiful pictures of day trips to the mountains or fall colors. There were pretty trees, good food, great people, but most of break was spent around the table or watching Christmas movies. I have about 12 pictures of my dog though, because all you college kids know the dog is the real reason we go home (just kidding family and friends, just kidding). 

There is the turkey, the sweet potatoes, the stuffing, the gravy, and the cranberry sauce, ready to be devoured. And then devoured for the following four days because what's Thanksgiving without buckets of leftovers? I thought about on Friends when Ross gets fired for yelling at his boss for eating his Thanksgiving leftover sandwich. This was similar to the way my sister coveted the stuffing.

Cutting the turkey consisted of my grandfather teaching my dad how to best cut the turkey and my dog waiting patiently for any droppings. Carefully shaving away at it with a large knife, my grandpa would gently lay the slices on a plate, using his skills from his days as a butcher. Turkey tastes better when it's perfectly cut. 

I have waited to post this a) because it is dead week and finals and blogging had to take a backseat b) had to finish editing pictures, and c) because I wanted to remind myself of a spirit of thankfulness. One of my favorite songs from Sleeping at Last has the lyrics, "How rare and beautiful it is to even exist." It hits me every time I listen to it because it is a beautiful reminder simply to have breath and movement and occupy space is a blessing. Anything beyond existing is an undeserved gift, a gift to give thanks for. Thankfulness for the mountains, for the ability to hear music, for the ability to create, for love and the ability to have relationships with depth, for family, for friends, for grace.