Pumpkin pie in the oven. The kitchen smells as it should. I’d never made one from a pumpkin before, I must confess, but it seemed like a good idea this year. I cooked my pumpkin in the microwave, having knifed it several times for good measure and maybe to let out the steam.
I had to keep checking it, and it took much longer to cook than I expected. This afternoon, it’s just me and the kids at home. We have a friend staying with us right now – the lovely bride of last spring – but she’s off meeting a VST friend for coffee, and the Spouse is at the office typing away. But despite the diminished household, emotions have been a little high. The Spouse says that photos shouldn’t always be about the broad smiles, so here’s a basj at documenting the day. It’s the first day of a week off school for Beangirl and Blue, and we’ve yet to find our rhythm. Hurt feelings as everyone seems to want to be both alone and piled on top of each other at the same time. No one’s really happy. I tried to entertain them with a pumpkin for a while. A little bit crazy, but I remember playing with one with Beangirl when she was small and it being lots of fun. I think in retrospect she must have been older. In fact, I think she was a toddler which, of course, Plum isn’t yet. We’ll get there. In the meantime, he’s mainly interested in nursing and giggling at silly songs the big kids sing when they can give him their attention. When that ran out, I found the bananagram tiles (a fun variation of Scrabble) and we spent some time word-building together. Plum nursed endlessless and the pumpkin kept cooking. It’s turned into one of the those afternoons that will in retrospect be beautiful, though in the moment, it’s loud and awkward and wearing. And hard. But there it is.
I found this poem earlier today and it’s summed some things up nicely.
We travellers, walking to the sun, can’t see
Ahead, but looking back the very light
That blinded us shows us the way we came,
Along which blessing now appear, risen
As if from sightlessness to sight, and we,
By blessing brightly lit, keep going toward
That blessed light that yet to us is dark.
Wendell Berry, Given
The kids asked if they could have some craft time, so I gave them some autumn-leaf-coloured cardboard and a couple of ideas. They decided to make table decorations for dinner tonight – leaf shapes marked with their own thanksgivings. Lego, of course, and teddies. Candy, tea, blankets. Brothers. These are bits of paper I will keep.
Now Plum has fallen asleep at last and the other two have settled into building castles with their blocks all over the carpet. There is still a little while before the pumpkin pie comes out the oven so I’m sitting at the table with a cup of tea and listening to the children playing.
Thanksgiving indeed.
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The pumpkin pie recipe I used came from Canadian Living and you can find it here.
