Thanksgiving Is a Day for Turkey and Family and Maybe Sledding if You're Lucky

I remember celebrating Thanksgiving when I moved to Peru to get away from my toxic American life. Most days, I wandered the streets in the pair of pants I bought from the army surplus store for $5.Those pants are sitting in a box somewhere.Naturally, Thanksgiving isn’t a Peruvian holiday, but every year somebody would say, “Hey! Thanksgiving right! Happy Thanksgiving!”Then I found that somebody else would have made a turkey, and we’d eat the turkey. “Is this right?”And I’d say, “It’s perfect!”I wanted to share that at the start of this post because I know what it’s like to be alone on a holiday. Some of my best holidays are the ones I’ve spent alone. We don’t talk about that much in the USA. The pressure is always to “get” somewhere. Even if you don’t know where you’re going, the important thing is to make progress.RUSH, RUSH, RUSH!There is so much pressure. “Are you going somewhere? Where do you expect to be in 5 years? Why can’t you do it in 3? Eleanor’s son Jake got there in 2, why can’t you be more like him, move, move move!”I’ve always been the kind of guy who likes to sit for a moment and think. Unfortunately, that’s despised in the USA.“What are you doing there?”“Thinking.”“Up to no good more like it! Why aren’t you moving?”“I’m deciding where to go.”“Well, why can’t you decide on the way?”“Because if I start walking and I realize I’m going in the wrong direction, it will be a waste of time.”“Smart ass aren’t you?”I’ve actually had this conversation.I just want to provide a reassurance that there’s nothing wrong with hitting the pause button. If you don’t like turkey, don’t eat turkey. If you don’t like the toxic people in your family, don’t go visit them. Tell them you couldn’t afford to fly because of the tariffs. That will probably get them off your back. They probably don’t want to recognize the existence of tariffs either.What I’ve discovered in life is that things can change fast. I was once on a plane to Berlin and I sat next to a guy. He told me about how two years ago he was like me, traveling all over the world. But now he was married with a baby and he was happy. But he was sure to say he was also happy when he was traveling. Nothing is right or wrong, it’s just that things can change.“No pressure,” he said with a smile.I think about him every couple of years. Two years after I met him, I was married with a baby.I like Thanksgiving. I’ve always liked Thanksgiving. It’s like Christmas without the stress of the presents. It’s chill. Sometimes it snows. When it snows you can go sledding and the kids are happy, but not as happy as me.There’s no getting up early on Thanksgiving day, except for the chef. I’m up in my apron because I’m the one who makes the turkey. I probably do it all wrong, but nobody’s gotten sick yet. You’re supposed to thaw the thing out in the fridge, but that doesn’t work.I use a secret method, and when it’s time to prepare the turkey, I put it in hot water in the sink first to make sure it’s ready.I wear an apron and I am careful not to get turkey juice on anything. My wife wouldn’t say I’m really into cleaning, but I always wipe down the kitchen with a disinfectant wipe when I’m done with the turkey. Sometimes I even mop.At some point my kids come running down the stairs, “Can we help with the turkey?”“Sure, cut up that celery.”That’s all they help with but it’s enough. They contributed. They did it without cutting themselves. It’s a success all around.I just mix bread with celery and butter for the stuffing. Nothing fancy. I put the turkey on a bed of sliced potatoes. Nothing fancy again. I inject the turkey with Peruvian Pisco.I bet none of you do that. It’s a trick I learned in Peru. I’m sorry to say but their turkey tastes better. When they wanted to make me feel better on Thanksgiving, they made a Christmas turkey. Their Christmas turkey is better.Sorry… but it is.Then I cover the top of the turkey with bacon. Do you do that? Why not? Who has ever seen something covered with bacon and said, “Uff, I wish you hadn’t done that!”Nobody, that’s who.Then I cook it using this guide. I use that guide because it was the first one that came up in a search the first time I had to cook a turkey and I don’t like to change.We usually eat at noon, that way we can eat turkey again in the evening and it’s still good. I also usually make bread. There will be pies and my wife makes a beet and potato salad, and it’s great.If we’re lucky, it snows, and we go sledding.It’s been like this for about 15 years, but 20 years ago I was celebrating Thanksgiving alone and that was fine too. I sat in front of a television, drank a bottle of wine, and watched a movie.It was a good day.Have a good day everyone! Enjoy your time! Be kind to yourself this Thanksgiving, the world needs you!You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe