Some Thanksgiving thoughts

A fog/mist bound day. Despite my misgivings about being gone all day and not being able to look over my flock of geese, I've let them out. This is because their days on the pond seem numbered and, more specifically, this will be both Mishkin and Ginger's last day on the pond, last day of life. I am so wracked by this. At least we have commisserating compatriots. Last night just around 4 our good friends Shirley and Richard (Shirley grew up in our house) stopped by and hearing of the impending deaths, they spoke of how hard it was and is to kill (there's the word, "kill") animals, especially when you've put such care and love into raising them. And I do take some solace also from listening to Barbara Kingsolver's wonderful book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" when she speaks of her own experiences with the same dilemma of being maternal in one sense, and, I suppose, practical in the other. And I want to buy into the thought that there is a growing of compassion being part of the whole journey of one's food from birth to plate. A gratitude, an enlarging of experience. But still, but still, but still. I feel a little treacherous, a little conniving. More will be revealed.


Richard's going to be the traveler of death tomorrow. The death wagon. Maybe he can wear a black robe with a scythe. 2 turkeys, 1 rooster, and 2 geese. He's traveling north about an hour to a processor who annually offers a service of butchering 1 to 6 birds for their neighbors rather than the big flocks they're usually hired to do. They seem like good people and have quite a menagerie surrounding them. "Lots of animals to gawk at while you wait," was the answer on our voice mail, her reply to our inquiry. I wish I could go with him, but I have my own duties to attend to before we take off on our trek south to Providence, RI, the city that was my first introduction to New England years ago. It provided well. There is good news with the geese, well, 1 of the geese. Cindy, the processor's wife, wants to do a trade for 1 of the geese. It seems someone wants a goose to breed up there. That would be wonderful. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

Buy locally, support your local farmers. Not just now, but all year long. And have a great Thanksgiving.