Duluth spring 2013–Happy Holidays?

By Jim Heffernan

It’s beginning to look a lot like holiday time...

I still wasn’t fully awake when I opened the shades this morning (May 4) to be greeted by a study in gray – skies, trees, streets – with a dusting of white from overnight snow, blades of gray grass poking through.

Because I hadn’t yet gained full consciousness from a long “spring” slumber, my mind immediately recognized the scene before me. I perked up right away. Thanksgiving is upon us. The scene so resembled late November I began thinking turkey, dressing, the trimmings, the family gathering for the holiday.

It took perhaps two milliseconds for me to adjust. Hold it. It’s not that Thanksgiving time of year. There’ll be no Black Friday shopping (yeah, right!) the day after.

It’s not fall it’s spring. It’s the merry month of May. Not so merry this year.

I shared that thought with others in my family, and they had the same thoughts as they looked out on this dreary May day. So I think we should just go with the weather’s flow and have Thanksgiving now.

We’re going to do it. When several members of our family, including three grandchildren 6 years old and under, gather on Sunday night for one of our occasional weekend dinners, here’s what’s on the menu:

Turkey, dressing, cranberries, mashed potatoes, corn, biscuits, salad and, what the heck, I’ll pick up a pumpkin pie for dessert. (Brief caveat: We won’t roast a big, stuffed turkey. We’ll roast a few drumsticks, prepare stovetop dressing, supplement the juices with store bought turkey gravy, and zap microwave mashed potatoes. Yummy.)

Why fight it? I can’t wait until the Fourth of July when we get to put up the tree, decorate the house, exchange gifts and, of course, welcome a jolly old saint from the North Pole.

Hold it! We’d better get started on our shopping before everything is picked over.

Happy holidays.