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I hesitated to call this a pandemic Thanksgiving, but that's exactly what it is. Probably more than any other Thanksgiving in my life, this is a crazy day due to the raging worldwide pandemic and an errant President of the United States.
President-elect Biden gave a touching Thankgiving speech once again fostering unity across the country while President Trump continued to lament that that election was unfair as he riled up what's left of his base. Fortunately, Biden is now receiving the funding and support from many aspects of government that he needs to do his job, and unfortunately President Trump, a seemingly deranged sore loser, is spending his last days in office squandering funds and abusing his powers by pardoning criminals, working against a peaceful transfer of power, and spreading conspiracy theories. We've never experienced such an errant, self-serving, dangerous, and destructive leader like this before in my life--it's annoying and frightening at the same time. Luckily President-elect Biden has stepped up to the plate as a respectful, calm, serious, and thoughtful leader--we need that now more than ever.
We are all also struggling with the fact that there is a raging pandemic in our midst. Many people are sick and many are dying. Until recently I knew of few people with the pandemic, but in the past few weeks, I have heard of a lot more people contracting the virus. In fact, my own family is now quarantining since a member of our family was in close contact with someone who now has the virus. So far no one here is demonstrating symptoms, and we hope it stays that way. Also, like President-elect Biden, there is hope that newly developed vaccines will end this pandemic sooner than later.
So this is a most unusual Thanksgiving--one when we will celebrate with only four of us rather than our big crowds of ten or more. We'll connect with family members via ZOOM and possibly one or more drive-by visits.
The fewer numbers are allowing us to try out some new recipes. The dinner will include the usual turkey, gravy, stuffing, squash, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, cranberry sauce, and apple crisp with ice cream for dessert.
It's going to be a rainy day so we'll likely hunker down, play some games, watch movies or sports games, nap and nap.
In many ways it is a somber Thanksgiving too as we think about the many who are missing loved ones or dealing with illness or lost jobs and income over this Thanksgiving due to the pandemic. However, we're grateful to have our loved ones nearby and better days to come. Onward.