A Feast of Feasts

Ruby headed off to "Williamsburg" in her 1600's dress for Colonial Day today. She brought two dozen rolls to sustain her on the voyage. During Colonial Day, girls couldn't speak in school and kids were put in the stocks for any violations of the colonial rules. Araceli, in her "pilgrim" dress, took 6 mini muffins to school as an offering to the "Indians" at her Thanksgiving dinner. In Freestone's class, he got a piece of beef jerky for Thanksgiving. While appearing to be a cheap and boring cop out, the jerky was probably the most authentic form of celebration of all the school festivities. Xanthe's class had a "feast." Xanthe, in charge of bringing 13 plates, was intimidated by the word "feast" and didn't want to go until I told her that feast means to eat a lot of food. She was OK with it after that, but her real celebration was today when it was time for ballet. Santa Claus left a brand-new leotard in the glove box of our car! He was going to save it for Christmas, but he noticed that Mom got delayed at the violin shop and didn't have time to go home for Xanthe's leo, so he had one of his reindeer sneak the new one into our car just in time, wrapped in a bag from Pat's Dancewear. I love Santa Claus! And this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for gullibility. Xanthe and I had our own feast at the Mandarin Cafe after ballet so Xanthe could show off her new leotard.

There were no celebrations at jr. high, probably because the original pilgrims left all the jr. high-aged kids back in England because they were so insufferable. Having taken many ten-minute car rides with pre-teens, I can tell you that I, for one, could not have survived a trans-Atlantic boat ride with one. Golda did have a small, humorous moment of thanksgiving, though. She was in the kitchen after dance and ate a mini muffin. She asked me if she could have another one and I said no, of course not. Seconds later the doorbell rang. At 9:00 at night. It was Golda's Beehive leader, with a single chocolate chip muffin in her outstretched hand. She handed it to Golda and told her that she loves having her in Young Women's and wished her a happy Thanksgiving. We laughed, but we also wondered if a muffin is too small a thing to be a blessing and if Sister Gurr's visit was a funny coincidence or inspiration. Either way, we know that sister Gurr does think about Golda and does love her. We are thankful for all the teachers who organize feasts and Colonial Days and late-night muffin drop-offs, and who care for the children we love.