Matryoshka Troubles
Every year, we joke about making a turducken. It’s sort of the gold standard for Thanksgiving cooking: a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey. (I think I have the order correct?)
We are not having a turducken. We are not even having a turkey. The twins wanted a meal of really good side dishes, which often involve dairy. (And we don’t mix meat and dairy in the same meal.) So we’re having a dairy meal—just tofu for protein, not even a Tofurkey—so we can have mashed potatoes and mushroom stuffing and Brussels sprouts.
But I was thinking that the turducken as a symbol is the perfect inverse image of this particular Thanksgiving with its matryoshka mess of troubles. It’s personal situations (infertility, perhaps) inside election / transition stress inside civil unrest inside COVID-19. It’s everything snowballed together into a stressful little holiday.
So.
If you are having a hard day—or even if you’re having an easy day—I am sending peace of heart. Feel what you are going to feel today. Miss who you are going to miss today. Big breath in, and big sigh out.
10 comments
Thank you for your unwavering presence in this space. Thank you for your wisdom and kindness. Big breaths.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Happy Thanksgiving. This blog has been such a help for me over the last two months as my first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. The information and compassion on this site made a painful process a little easier. Take good care.
I’m so sorry for your loss.
Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for your writing and holding space so well! 🦃 🍄
Thank you. I hope the day brought you happiness. Side dishes should always be the star of the meal.
Thank you for a beautiful message, and wishing you and your family a happy and loving Thanksgiving and weekend after.
I like and eat turkey, and don’t keep kosher, and I still think that an “all sides” Thanksgiving dinner sounds delicious! I hope you all had a wonderful day.
I think a turducken is a terrific metaphor for 2020 holidays… that absolutely never sounded good to me. I like all those birds on their own, and in theory it sounds good, but the idea of deboning and stuffing one bird into another bird and then roasting it all together is just so Franken-food-y.
This is so beautiful. It is a mess, with so many other layers in it than usual. I love your message. And your sides. I think I may have to go eat Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch now… mostly sides!
I love that you offer us peace wrapped in community wrapped in breath.