Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Requiem for a Turkey

The beginning of the holiday season and it’s Thanksgiving in Scripps Ranch. The trimmings are sliced, diced, racked, stacked, made, and splayed. They wait patiently and know well their supportive role. Leaving the spotlight for the star…the bird, who butterballs itself into a feast fit for royalty. The televised grid-iron adventures are underway. The helmeted gladiators do battle for enemy territory and the pride of their representative cities. Due to circumstances beyond my control we, my wife and I, are hosting Tallulah and her new second husband, Sigmund. Tallulah, an old friend of my wife’s, lives out of state. We don’t see her often but whenever we do she insists on updating us about guys my wife dated before meeting me, laughing too hard at her own marginally humorous jokes, and squeezing her forty-something into outfits intended for twenty-somethings. Sigmund, the new husband, seems a nice enough fellow. He computer programs, helps carpool Tallulah’s kids, and gets together with his buddies once a month to play poker. Trying to entertain him, however, proves difficult. His knowledge of football is minimal; not the most important subject, granted, but on Thanksgiving Day? Come on, man, read a pamphlet at least, huh? When offered a choice between any of my four growlers filled with exotic locally micro-brewed beers, Sigmund responds by bemoaning the fact I’ve failed to offer any pale yellow mast-produced libations. Can we all agree right now that if you have a special request in the food or drink department, you stop and pick it up yourself before coming to the party.
With the turkey carved and the table set we fall into consuming. It is then somewhere between the mashed potatoes and the stuffing, as the gravy works into my system and the biscuits warm my belly, the dinner conversation seems to fade in my ear and my vision goes to soft focus. I suddenly see in our guests a recently remarried single mother who has sacrificed much for the good of her children; who in spite of some past experiences still believes in love and the power it processes; and who still aspires to improve herself. And next to her a man, honest and hard-working, who because of his love for this woman gives his all in providing for her and her offspring; who foregoes his own plans and wishes to spend time with her old friends; and who graciously accepts new people with different interests. I am slightly embarrassed, a little ashamed, and extremely thankful.

                                                               Daniel J McAuliffe
                                                               Scripps Ranch
                                                               11-30-09
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Nation’s sexy soldiers stage protest at Pendleton in wake of change in Marine uniform policy

Semper WHY?
Next Article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob

The beginning of the holiday season and it’s Thanksgiving in Scripps Ranch. The trimmings are sliced, diced, racked, stacked, made, and splayed. They wait patiently and know well their supportive role. Leaving the spotlight for the star…the bird, who butterballs itself into a feast fit for royalty. The televised grid-iron adventures are underway. The helmeted gladiators do battle for enemy territory and the pride of their representative cities. Due to circumstances beyond my control we, my wife and I, are hosting Tallulah and her new second husband, Sigmund. Tallulah, an old friend of my wife’s, lives out of state. We don’t see her often but whenever we do she insists on updating us about guys my wife dated before meeting me, laughing too hard at her own marginally humorous jokes, and squeezing her forty-something into outfits intended for twenty-somethings. Sigmund, the new husband, seems a nice enough fellow. He computer programs, helps carpool Tallulah’s kids, and gets together with his buddies once a month to play poker. Trying to entertain him, however, proves difficult. His knowledge of football is minimal; not the most important subject, granted, but on Thanksgiving Day? Come on, man, read a pamphlet at least, huh? When offered a choice between any of my four growlers filled with exotic locally micro-brewed beers, Sigmund responds by bemoaning the fact I’ve failed to offer any pale yellow mast-produced libations. Can we all agree right now that if you have a special request in the food or drink department, you stop and pick it up yourself before coming to the party.
With the turkey carved and the table set we fall into consuming. It is then somewhere between the mashed potatoes and the stuffing, as the gravy works into my system and the biscuits warm my belly, the dinner conversation seems to fade in my ear and my vision goes to soft focus. I suddenly see in our guests a recently remarried single mother who has sacrificed much for the good of her children; who in spite of some past experiences still believes in love and the power it processes; and who still aspires to improve herself. And next to her a man, honest and hard-working, who because of his love for this woman gives his all in providing for her and her offspring; who foregoes his own plans and wishes to spend time with her old friends; and who graciously accepts new people with different interests. I am slightly embarrassed, a little ashamed, and extremely thankful.

                                                               Daniel J McAuliffe
                                                               Scripps Ranch
                                                               11-30-09
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.