My grandmother’s house was the all-family eclectic destination. Our small town usually had most relatives living in it. Seldom did anyone travel more than an hour to get to their destination. If a family had a vehicle like our 55 Ford it could take up to three hours to get there... most of the time that vehicle would not be moving forward. Grandma lived 3 blocks from us so most of the time we would start out at least an hour before the turkey bell was rung.

We took my trusty dog, Ted, only one time and I think the idea was only to add warmth to the inside of the car... bad heater. It snowed that day and Dad was afraid the bald front tires would cause the car to make uncontrollable circles in various lawns along the way, causing harsh frostbite conditions to the occupants of said vehicle. Only three lawns were destroyed that day. We were thankful that year even before we tasted the Dead Bird. Dad was just happy that nobody witnessed it simply because of the speed we were traveling on the lawns. Dad prided himself on his ability to careen at high speeds while on others’ lawns... snow or rain!

We walked into the old two-story house and greeted all the “various relatives”. It was pretty smoky in there not because of the turkey—everyone smoked back in that time. A blue haze wafted above the floor but we found our places at the table from sheer memory. Ted was appalled at the entire scene and stuck close to my leg, mainly because of the rope around his neck. My mother insisted because he was an uninvited guest. We all had a great dinner and Ted enjoyed his gift of turkey fat and gristle that came from my hand. Mom discovered later that night in our house that Ted’s stomach had rejected his portion. As we left for home early evening, Ted would not get back in the Ford, so I offered to just walk him the 3 blocks to our house. Ted and I waited 30 minutes for the family to come slowly cruising into the driveway. The back tires were steaming and when Mom jumped out of the Ford she was steaming also. “Your father burrowed that jalopy into three different lawns in three blocks!!!!.”  Cool dad responded with pride “Ya but no one saw us!”   It was just another wonderful day to give thanks for living in our small town. I’m still thankful.