Thanksgiving 2016

      “Go home, take the cow into your house to live with you,” said the elder.  It was the next-to-last piece advice the elder would give the Chinese peasant.

      In preceding sessions, the elder advised the peasant to take in the dog, the cat, the goat, and the pig, into his house with his wife and three children.  This was a Chinese fable we read in our “reading” book in second grade (I think second grade).  We might have called the peasant a “Chinaman”, but that’s probably politically incorrect, so “peasant” will do for now.

      The fable started with the peasant calling on the wise old elder to ask his advice.  His wife had just brought another child into the world and she was complaining vociferously about the crowded conditions in which they lived.  The peasant didn’t have the wherewithal to build a new house (or maybe he was just “thrifty”).

      Thus the advice to take the animals into the house, starting with the dog.  Each time the peasant returned to seek advice and to explain that the addition of the animal only made his wife complain more, the elder suggested adding another animal, the cat, the goat, etc.     

     When adding the cow to the household made living conditions intolerable, the peasant returned to the elder.  The elder advised him to go home and turn all the animals out of his house, put them back in the barn, sty, etc.

    With the animals gone, the wife set to giving the house a good cleaning.  She did so merrily, exulting in all the room she now had to care for her family.  The peasant returned to the elder once more to report on the change in his wife’s attitude and to praise him for his wisdom.

     I had occasion to think of that fable in the days approaching Thanksgiving.  We hadn’t hosted either the Thanksgiving or the Christmas family gathering for years.  It was about our turn.  I sent out the email inviting family members to our place for Thanksgiving.

      Our family now numbers in the 50’s.  We thought maybe twenty-some or even thirty-some might accept our offer.

     We had 44 positive replies.  With us two hosts, we would have 46 people in our house on Thanksgiving afternoon.

     We debated the logistics.  Two or three turkeys?  Two hams?  Tables and chairs?  Roaster ovens?  Silverware or plastic?

     We decided two turkeys would be plenty, and they were.  Two hams left us with a whole ham left over.  We managed to borrow everything we needed, including our neighbor’s refrigerator.  (He was gone to Pennsylvania.)

     The next challenge was where to put the borrowed tables and chairs.  The answer was to move chairs from the family and living rooms into the bedrooms.  Then there was ample room for tables with 48 chairs.

     The food, all but ham and turkey supplied by the guests, was abundant.

    

     The weather cooperated with temperature in the 50’s.  The kids could play outside, or inside.  The favorite place seemed to be the storeroom in the basement, however.

      For as many people as we had, it did not seem that crowded.  Everybody seemed to be happy.  We even had time for a short jam session at the day’s end.

     Just like in the fable, when everybody left, we were in a big house with lots of room, echoing room.  That’s not to compare any of our guests to the Chinese peasant’s livestock, of course!

     Once the tables and chairs were removed, we took advantage of the empty space to spruce up the floors.

      The furniture back in place, there remains the borrowed items to return.  Then our job will be done.