Tonight I'm baking a cherry pie (I don't do pumpkin) for my first Thanksgiving at home in at least 13 years. Throughout the process, I've been thinking of the simple things for which I am grateful. For instance, I was grateful that I didn't have to gather all my supplies, put them into canvas bags, and carry them up two decks to a common galley. And then make another trip for an item or utensil that I forgot. Run down and up one more time for my own dishtowel. I didn't have to hope there would be an empty cooking station. I didn't have to clean the counter before I started to work. I didn't have to wash the dishes by hand, but I could load them into the dishwasher. Finally, I'm not sitting on a grungy folding chair in the riposto reading Newsweek while waiting for the pie to bake. Instead I'm sitting in a recliner in my living room, writing this blog entry and watching Without a Trace, wishing I'd remembered to do this earlier so I could be in bed now.
In the spirit of my friend Ann, Isn't it Amazing how flour, shortening, salt, and water can taste so good, especially when covered with cinnamon sugar? For that matter, isn't it amazing that raw ingredients mixed together taste wonderful when I wouldn't consider eating any of them individually? Think chocolate chip cookie dough. Or are you one of those people who fears Salmonella and would NEVER eat cookie sushi?
Someone asked me today if I missed the ship. The quick and the short of it is, no. But I do miss the friends I've made and the traditions. Come Christmas eve, I may need to put a shoe outside my door. And I might not be sure what to do with myself on Christmas eve if I'm not scurrying around the ship trying to decipher the phone list and locate cabins so I can deliver gifts.
So now I have to wait 2 days to eat any of this pie...I'm grateful I have food to eat, not just the essentials, but dessert, too. Happy Thanksgiving a couple of days early.
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2 comments:
Your not missing anything here on the ship (besides the part about friends that you already stated)...
I'm not the grinch, but I am going to make sure I am not working in a 'food job' next year so I can sit somewhere and enjoy someone elses cooking, or my own cooking in our own place(meaning Stephanie and I of course!).
Its fun to cook for everyone on the ship, but it gets old, and I long for the intimacy of having my own place, my own kitchen, my own ...
Merry Christmas Jean! Enjoy your freedom!
We have finished our commitment and will be leaving soon...paycheck here I come!
Thanks, Tyrone, for all the things you've done in the past year to make those occasions memorable for everyone else, even when it means you are busy working while others are skiving off. Thanks for your service. I pray your transition back 'home' is a smooth an uneventful one!
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