In Time for Thanksgiving

I remembered it but never thought about it – how my mother got up in the dark to start roasting our Thanksgiving turkey so we could pack it up later and drive across the State of Michigan to my grandmother’s house. I can still see my mom in her housecoat and slippers in the kitchen with just a single light on early Thanksgiving morning, wrestling with the “bird” as she always called it. Getting an early start was crucial.

So I created a ‘how-to’ so others could replicate my mother’s flawless technique and it was published yesterday on the beautiful quirky essay site called Dead Housekeeping. Dead Housekeeping is all about household tips and instructions from people no longer with us.  And the editors mean business. They’re looking for literary essays but they must be clear about all the steps. When the chief editor told me they’d like to publish the piece, they asked me to clarify about the blue roaster. Was that the pan the turkey was roasted in or did my mom transfer the turkey to a blue roaster? Then they asked me to reveal a bit more about my mother, just a titch more. Be spare but illuminating.

The title of my essay is How to Transport a Thanksgiving Turkey. And if you take a look at it, scroll through the previous essays – there are some real works of art there. Beautiful work. I love having something of mine in such wonderful company.

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Photo by Alison Marras on Unsplash