The Twelve Days of Thanksgiving: Day Four
On the Fourth Day of Thanksgiving my true love drank the whipping cream for the pie in his coffee and left to play golf.
But I am still thankful. And actually particularly thankful that he got out of the way, in light of today's activities, centering on foraging for traditional foods, moving furniture and arranging flowers. And because I am focusing on this, I am also particularly thankful for our authors who promote gracious living.
Gracious Living is a little like prairie dogs. Some people mock it, others try to destroy it, but a few realize that the underpinnings of the world as we know it depend on it. And it is profoundly beautiful when you study it. Way more than just furry or cute. Just as there is little that is more reassuring than a drenching, nurturing rain soaking deep into the grasslands thanks to the prairie dogs' work, there is little that feeds our soul more than a full course meal, made with love, eaten slowly in good company with good spirits and thankfulness. Hence the popularity of the holiday that is now upon us.
But most of us are too busy twittering around, rushing to meetings and trying to snake parking places from unsuspecting middle aged women in the Whole Foods parking lot to take the time to really study gracious living. So we have to ask the butcher about how long to cook the turkey. After he tells us how many pounds feeds how many people.
This is why I'm taking a moment today from my frenetic schedule of alternately working at home and working on my home to pause and be thankful for the authors of two little cookbooks, a church flower arranging book and a big pretty design book. Their books celebrate and share domestic arts that are in danger of being forgotten, and they have deep-rooted values at their core.
The cookbooks are Perennial Favorites and Seasonal Favorites, two wonderful collections of recipes from The Garden Club of Houston, the tireless gardeners who are responsible for making so much of H'town pleasing to the eye. Perennial Favorites is a collection of "Portable Food" that the ladies bring to share at their events, particularly the annual Bulb and Plant Mart; and Seasonal Favorites is filled to overflowing with party food, entertaining ideas, and ways to bring aspects of the garden into decorating. It is aptly named "Festive Food," and it just reading through it makes me feel that life is a delightful affair. Both books are treasure troves of hospitality and good cheer, collected by the multi-talented Margaret Wolfe, Gay Estes and Karen Terrell.
Gay is so multi-talented that she not only illustrated both of those, she also wrote and illustrated a little handbook called The Church Ladies' Guide to Divine Flower Arranging that is absolutely the best explanation of how to arrange a flower in any setting--holy or heathen--that I have ever read. In fact, as soon as I post this, I'm off to arrange the flowers that I gave a nice shot of vodka to this morning, just like Gay has taught me, and I'll keep her very practical tips in mind--beginning with "No Mickey Mouse ears."
The last book that is on my mind today is Interior Wisdom. It's a beautiful interior design book by Leah Richardson, a lovely lady who is an award-winning designer whose work has appeared on the covers of major national shelter magazines, and is also a minister. Leah's book is subtitled "Designing Your Home and Heart for the Lord," and in it, she shows how to create a home that is not only pleasing to the eye, but becomes a sanctuary from the outside world. Homes have a definite spirit, and it is so fine when they reflect the hearts that dwell in them. Leah's ideas on clearing the clutter and focusing on what's really important to us have been particularly helpful to my house.
Home and hearth. In a crazy world, there is little that is more comforting, and I am grateful to these authors who have shared their ideas for reviving domesticity, raising it into the art it deserves to be and recognizing that it can serve as a soothing salve to the soul of our crabby, fast food nation.
We are hardwired to make homes for ourselves, and hardwired for ritual. LIke the prairie dogs, our homes and our habits are integral to the strength with which we are able carry on.
So today, like my mother and my grandmothers always have, I will polish the trays and arrange the flowers. And like the prairie dogs, I will go outside and raise my palms in gratitude for the setting sun. And if I take a minute from the preparations to tweet out my joy, that's ok, too.
I like my traditions with a little twist of lemon.
Thanksgiving Tip #4 If you find yourself frustrated that your world is not filled with domestic harmony even when the flowers and food are perfect, find yourself a copy of Terry Tempest Williams' Mosaic: Finding Beauty in a Broken World. It's language and message are inspiring, and it explains my newfound interest in Prayer Dogs.
If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people,
you might better stay home.
- James Michener
