As expected, and as it was proper, this year Thanksgiving celebration was certainly not a typical De Paz family thanksgiving party. Our late lunch was a more intimate affair, but not less thankful and, maybe for the same reason, more deeply felt.
Johnny and Jess came over from Charlotte for a week. As they are both in the high-risk category, they are both strictly observant of all necessary cautions and, with Jess on the case, you can be sure there is no wavering there, for sure. They were welcomed to huddle with us. They brought both their two dogs, Milo and Pancho, of course. Two rascals, the dogs I mean, that can come in handy when you are working in the kitchen. I call Milo, a cross between a basset hound and a beagle (and it is said that it certainly has clear pit bull traits, which by now would make it a really good-looking mutt…), Hoovy in honor of the Hoover vacuum cleaners. And Pancho is a really lucky street mutt rescued from Costa Rica some years back, a little fellow with a lot of spunk! The four of them have been making the trek practically monthly from Charlotte and had planned to do it again for Xmas, but good sense prevailed given the current pandemic explosion and so we will Zoom our Xmas morning present opening party, so we were lucky ‘good sense’ did not prevail sooner.
Melissa and Diego also came over with the two munchkins, Jackson and Emilia. We all had our celebration outside as an extra precaution, given that they can not help but being exposed in their respective jobs, and the weather was on our side for that. Actually, it was way better, as we set out string lights in the backyard, Wanda set out two gorgeous tables, one for each ‘family’, and we lit some citronella torches for the mosquitos. All in all, I must say, did look pretty romantic…
But the show stopper this year was the ‘Jackson and Abu Magic Theater!’
Last year, when we also had an intimate celebration, Diego started the new tradition of having a special activity/event other than the already pleasant conversation and wine before dinner (thankfully, our family thanksgivings would not qualify for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner movie, lol!). He directed a wine tasting where he presented different types of wines and we all had a chance to comment on them and share our likes and reservations. Diego and Wanda developed a considerable knowledge about wine during their restaurateur years and we all enjoyed very much the presentation.
This year it was Jackson’s and mine turn.
We built a shadow theater from a large Amazon box, some newspaper, printing paper, black and purple spray paint and mat board puppets. I suggested we present the tale of the three goats and the troll, something I had wanted to do for some time. But Jackson, very properly, explained that since it was a Thanksgiving presentation, it should be the three turkeys and the mean farmer. Brilliant! We agreed on the story line complete with a surprise ending, rehearsed the day before and agreed to dress up for our premier presentation. Jackson, of course, outdid me on that!
The play was well received to big applause and ‘bravos’ by the audience and was later in the night again presented by Zoom to a nationally spread audience, in the De Paz family Zoom Thanksgiving meeting. Everyone was thrilled and applauded Jackson in his debut as playwright.
And on we went to fest on Wanda, Jess and Melissa’s cornucopia, and my two gluten free pies (more about that later), and some delicious wine.
All in all, I would say it was the best Thanksgiving we could have ever hoped for, full of love and, as Linus would put it, ‘sincere’. A balsam for a challenging year coming to a close. Already looking forward to next year.
