Thanksgiving on a Sunday | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: Please join me in welcoming Author Michele Rhem, who presents us with her poignant memoirs of the Rabbit Patch, where her diaries weave tales of a simpler, expressive life lost to many, but gathered together in her most familiar environs - the Rabbit Patch.

    In the Morning

    Holiday mornings are the most beautiful kind of mornings, to me. On the rabbit patch calendar, this Sunday morning, is a holiday. Today, my family will celebrate Thanksgiving.

    It is my habit, to rise early and this is especially so on a holiday. There is always a lot to do and I do not like to rush. The collards have been cooking a while and I just put a large pot of corn on the stove. There are still the biscuits. I will need a large pan of those, but I take a good many coffee breaks, anyway.

    The morning is bright and beautiful, and I like that. I prefer cold weather on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Last year, it was so warm that while the turkey was cooking, I could have cured tobacco, right there in the kitchen.

    Around the Table

    It wasn't long after noon, that mamas' dining room table was full. Grandchildren sat at a table set up in the living room, as they always do. I thought the food was especially good this year. Everyone was doing well and it made me glad to know that.

    After the meal, Daddy watched a NASCAR race, My brother-in-law, Roy took to fixing all of the electronics in the house and the women talked about Christmas. The grandsons brought mamas' decorations in, so she will have them ready when "the spirit moves her". Mama takes great pains with her decorating and it shows up every year. A garland with twinkling lights on a picket fence is as pretty a picture, as I know of.

    Back at the Rabbit Patch

    When the light was fading, I made my way home. I was anxious as this was the first time, that Moon Shine had been left unattended in the farmhouse. Cash, my boxer tattles on the young kitten, when I am home. He is quite an alert guardian and is constantly checking on the where-abouts of the kitten. Christopher Robin, just watches like a judge and jury, in a superior fashion. I considered leaving Moon Shine to his own devices in the barn, but the the wind was cold and constant-and he is "the baby" in the family, after all.

    The farmhouse was still in-tact, upon inspection and so they all ate a good supper, with extra gravy, because of it. Moon Shine, is a naughty rascal, any way, though I can't prove it today.

    Now, I make it a habit, to be grateful, but I must admit, that the Thanksgiving season tenders my heart and humbles me like no other time and- Thanksgiving may be the interlude, that we can all use just now. In some way, gratitude forces us to acknowledge that we are loved . Surely, there is hope in that.