Thanksgiving day in Kennewick, Washington at my first wife, Rose’s, place. My son, Chris, and his girlfriend, Nikki, are here now along with myself, Colette, Rose and Alice, Rose’s sister.
The day starts slowly with Colette and I going out for a walk. Then Tina and her family showed up along with a number of other folks and soon the house was brimming with a large extended family. 18 people, by one count, of all ages from a newborn baby to older folks like myself.
I like kids and the ones there were great. My iPad was passed from hand to hand all day as various games were played on it. Indeed, the battery was run down to zero twice before I had to retire it for the day.
Early in the day, several of us went to a public park and played basketball, frisbee and football. I use the word, ‘played’, loosely because the only sport I had any skill at was Frisbee. Dan, Tina’s son, is terrific at basketball and Nikki’s no slouch either.
As the afternoon wore on, everyone seemed, at one point or another, to talk and visit with everyone else. Adults and kids were everywhere. Political discussions were held, TV was watched, candy was eaten (including some which was consumed by Chris and Nikki’s dog, Sammy, who was a bit worse for the experience but he soon recovered) and everyone seemed to be having a good time.
Rose setup a long table with as many spaces as possible but, even so, several folks ended up sitting on the couch when the meal was served at 4 PM.
It was a classic American Thanksgiving dinner, which was a new experience for our Kiwi, Colette. Turkey, dressing, cranberries, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, ham, and assorted other goodies in large quantities. A classic big-table event with bowls of one thing and another being passed up and down the table from hand to hand.
Finally, we were all stuffed. So, we sat down and talked some more why we digested. And then, after an hour or more, the pies came out; pecan and pumpkin. Oh, yum. I pigged out with a piece of each.
After another hour or so, the Tina and Pat (Tina’s husband) clan packed up for their return drive to Moses Lake (about an hour and half away). The house seemed so big after all of the clan left but I missed them.
The night was not over, however. Tomorrow’s Black Friday and Rose works at Kohls Department Store and they are opening up for a Black Friday sale at midnight tonight when Thursday turns to Friday. And we’ve all decided to go down and join the shopping insanity!
So, we all sit around chatting until Rose goes into work just after 11 pm. She calls at 1130 to tell us to follow her on down NOW as the place is already insane with folks waiting to get into the store. Whoops – off we go.
At 1155 we pull in and the crowd is right around the store lined up waiting for midnight to strike. We get out and organize ourselves and start walking and when we’re halfway there, they open the doors. Wow. Everyone is surging to get in. Shopping madness. And, apparently, this is going on all over town with stores opening for Black Friday. Good fun!
So, we surge in with the crowd and exchange cell phone numbers with Alice in case we get seperated.
Shopping’s fun. We didn’t think we’d want to buy anything but it’s all a bit infectious. We buy a high quality kitchen knife and two caps for me to replace the one I lost in the high winds at Bandon Beach in Oregon.
Then (yes THEN) the rub becomes apparent. It’s the queues we have to line up to buy this stuff. Yow, they are stretched all around the inside of the store before you get to the checkout stations so you can pay.
We think about putting our stuff away but Chris and Nikki volunteer to take it through for us. They realize we’re older folks and need to get our rest (smile!) so we hand our goodies to them and by 1:15 am we’re home and heading for sleep while all the crazy shoppers shop on.
And so ends Thanksgiving in Kennewick.
dennis
Ooh, I am salivating! I think we need to start a Thanksgiving tradition here in NZ, perhaps in the month of July??? I can’t wait to talk to Colette when you both return to hear what she thought of T-day and Black Friday shopping! If you only got out with two caps and a knife, then you did good! We are all missing you two!