Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has been to me one of those holidays associated with family.  I remember when I was a kid, we would go to my grandmother's house in Redlands, California.  The house seemed so big to me.  It was a two story house with an outdoor toilet on the porch with a box way above the toilet with a chain.  There was some indoor plumbing added after the home was built. It had a cellar in which, according to the family lore, my grandfather had buried money. I don't know if that money was ever found.

Driving to Redlands from San Diego was no easy task in those days.  There was no freeway I-15.  We would have to drive on US 395, a two lane road.  Many places the traffic would back up.  When we passed the Poway turnoff we would see cattled grazing.  That area is now Rancho Bernardo, totally developed.  No place left for cattle to graze.  When we got to Moreno Valley would would cut across the Timoteo mountains.  I liked them because they were named after me, in my mind and I knew we were near Redlands.

When we would get to my grandmother's house, my brothers and I would play as the women prepared the dinner.  My parents and grandmother were vegetarians so there was no turkey to cook.  They would make a fake turkey out of gluten protein. It would be served with breading, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, broccoli and my mother's special whole wheat dinner rolls which we called hardtack.  After eating ourselves silly the pies would come out which usually included a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie.  Sometimes we would get a rhubarb pie. My dad loved rhubarb pie but it left a hairy film on my teeth. After the dinner the old folks would go loosen their belts and talk.  All the kids and me would go outside and play.  I was particularly fascinated by my grandmother's Studebaker which was set on cement blocks.

Over the years, the family Thanksgiving dinner would change locations.  Now, all my brothers and sister have left San Diego and my parents have died so Thanksgiving isn't what it was. I shared dinner today with friends and remembered all the great dinners past.