Great Turtle Island
Just like looking at your house or city from google map satellite view, there is some deeper understanding for my own culture when seen from afar.
I had Thanksgiving dinner today in an organic and biodynamic restaurant. They served some amazing truffle mac n cheese, which is traditionally american, but is it traditionally Thanksgiving? Not at my house.
There were sweet potatoes, roasted and stuffing and turkey with cranberry and some sort of pumpkin pie. I have come to understand that non Americans somehow dramatically miss the point when it comes to pumpkin pie.
By the time the turkey was served, I had to restrain myself from crying. Like I did last week when I saw the kiwi play.
So here I am in limbo. I love both lands so much that I have ended up in neither.
Or something.
Anyway, it is crystal clear that it isn't possible to hold all the old comforts and still have all the new adventures. Some things must be traded.
And I am thankful that Thanksgiving has meant something to me. I am thankful for the years with the whole family at grandma's house....for the wet fallen leaves sometimes covered in a layer of snow. I am thankful that I ever knew that warmth, as that was the rootstock that feeds me still. It is the groundwork of my groundedness. It is how I know how to love and hold, to commit and show up and when it is time to take responsibility for a dish or two.
I am thankful for the traditions that are mine, even far as they are from any ocean. I am thankful for the hours and years with the family that have flavoured my memories and also my present.
I am thankful that their love is a moveable feast, and that I am able to partake in it anywhere I go. And I am thankful that I have gone, for that is how returns come about.
I had Thanksgiving dinner today in an organic and biodynamic restaurant. They served some amazing truffle mac n cheese, which is traditionally american, but is it traditionally Thanksgiving? Not at my house.
There were sweet potatoes, roasted and stuffing and turkey with cranberry and some sort of pumpkin pie. I have come to understand that non Americans somehow dramatically miss the point when it comes to pumpkin pie.
By the time the turkey was served, I had to restrain myself from crying. Like I did last week when I saw the kiwi play.
So here I am in limbo. I love both lands so much that I have ended up in neither.
Or something.
Anyway, it is crystal clear that it isn't possible to hold all the old comforts and still have all the new adventures. Some things must be traded.
And I am thankful that Thanksgiving has meant something to me. I am thankful for the years with the whole family at grandma's house....for the wet fallen leaves sometimes covered in a layer of snow. I am thankful that I ever knew that warmth, as that was the rootstock that feeds me still. It is the groundwork of my groundedness. It is how I know how to love and hold, to commit and show up and when it is time to take responsibility for a dish or two.
I am thankful for the traditions that are mine, even far as they are from any ocean. I am thankful for the hours and years with the family that have flavoured my memories and also my present.
I am thankful that their love is a moveable feast, and that I am able to partake in it anywhere I go. And I am thankful that I have gone, for that is how returns come about.
posted by hymenoptera's honey at 12:02 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home