Thanksgiving!

Didn’t get as much done as I would have liked—only one chapter for 2658 words. I was pleased with it, but my second writing session pretty much fell prey to food preparation. I had a 16 lbs Turkey in the smoker, along with a huge porkloin. (They turned out great.) Stuffing, Cauliflower, sweet potatoes and creamed spinach also came out great. I enjoyed the food, then got to carve all the meat down so I could freeze it. (I’ll be eating off it until the next set of holidays.)

Oh, and pumpkin pie. Yum.

I did learn one thing that was very interesting today. When you are texting someone and typing out the word “Thanksgiving,” my T9 type-ahead has the word “Thanksh*thog” as an alternative. I wasn’t even aware that was a word. I still don’t think it is, but now I want to find a place to use it. Words like that, even if created accidentally, should not be lost.

Thanksgiving was quiet, but that was cool. Gave my hands a chance to rest, which is welcome. So much about being a writer is atypical that taking a day to prep food and enjoy it is a welcome break. In part it’s staying in touch with what everyone else is doing. But it’s more. Cooking requires you to actually do things in the real world, not just theoretically. It’s one thing to think a recipe might work, it’s another to actually get it to work.

This is one of the reasons why I like to do more than just write. I love writing. I know I’m good at it, but the things that make me good at writing could also make me good at other things. In the past three years I’ve become pretty good at dancing. In the coming year there are a few classes I might want to take to develop some other skills. And, as always, I’m studying all sorts of things and looking ahead to what the publishing industry will become in the next decade or so. I’ll do my best, in fact, to help shape it into my vision of what I think it should be.

I did miss one thing today, which is a small piece of the holiday I can likely never recover. I remember sitting at the Thanksgiving table, listening to my father and my uncle, both doctors, talk about their business or politics. I was young and, as with all young primates, I wanted to be afforded adult status. But these two guys just knew so much more, and I found it fascinating. It would be fun to have that back some time. (And I dread the thought that a conversation I might be having with someone else could be seen that way by yet a third person, because I’m not sure I will ever be as grown up as my father and uncle.)

It was a good Thanksgiving.

November Word Count: Hard: 84750 Soft: 17282