Skip to main content

Leftover Evidence

Groan...leftovers...the refrigerator is stuffed with an assortment of containers filled with mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole...and turkey. Then there are the laundry leftovers. Piles of sheets and towels lie on the floor awaiting their turn in the washer. I've already Windexed the fingerprints and nose print evidence from the patio door.  The floors have been vacuumed,  dispatching the crumb and dirt evidence. Order has been restored to the empty nest. You'd never know that three days ago the house was crammed with adults, kids, and dogs. There isn't much evidence that anything out of the ordinary happened if you look around or is there?

The CSI characters reconstruct the crime from the leftovers-blood, ammo, tire tracks, etc. I'm reconstructing the holiday with the leftovers.  The mashed potatoes mean our oldest daughter was here peeling, mashing, and adding secret ingredients for silky smooth and delicious potatoes. The sweet potato casserole means that our youngest daughter created her own casserole recipe on the fly that turned out fabulous. The fingerprints on the patio door were from two small perpetrators that came up with such memorable quotes as: 
Grandma, I love your pancakes. Can I have more?
I'm a chocolate milk monster.
I'm hoggin' turkey. More turkey please.
Look! There's a rabbit out there. I want to catch him.
Read the book again, Grandpa.

The piles of laundry mean there were lots of people in the house and we enjoyed every minute they were here.  The Diet Coke can in the family room means our son-in-law was enjoying football. The Mad Mallard Squadron sticker means our youngest daughter's boyfriend was here. He's an F-16 pilot. The music spread over the the rack on the piano testifies that our girls were playing and singing Christmas carols. Video surveillance proves it. The odometer on the Jeep indicates a little extra mileage this week for trips to the airport. A dear friend who's a missionary in Africa was able to join the fun too.

This year I'm savoring Thanksgiving leftovers a little longer before I begin decorating for Christmas. It was delightful chaos for a few days. After examining all the evidence the verdict is:
  • You don't have time for everything you want to do together.
  • Naps are good for everyone.
  • Old friendships are incredible gifts.
  • Blessings outweigh the trials.
  • Most of all--enjoy it while it lasts!




Comments

Francine Biere said…
Laurinda ... what a charming and visually memorable piece of writing. It really is a unique way to look at memories we make. And I'll remember this as I wait for my own delightful chaos as I await my daughter and family.

I loved it..
December 18, 2011
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Victim of Circumstances?

 The article below has been getting a lot of hits lately, and I thought it may be time to repost it. A couple of weeks ago, I took the picture below. I thought it pretty much sums up our life journey. We never know what's around the corner for us.  Circumstances change in seconds some days. Whether the circumstances of life are good or bad, we're fond of blaming them for how we behave and think. Here are a few of the well-used excuses:  "I'm a victim of circumstances.""The situation is impossible." "The circumstances are beyond my control." "Under the circumstances"...fill in the blank. Funny how principles, self-control, and  positive thinking can go out the window when we're "under the circumstances."  And lest you think the author is above blaming circumstances, she is not. I've used most of the excuses above, whether spoken or unspoken.  An imprisoned and wrongly accused Jewish C...
1 comment
Read more

The Castile Knapper

It's always fun to have family members who have a bit of notoriety because of interesting pursuits. My husband's cousin, Ken Wallace is one of those.  Ken is an artist who works in stone as a flintknapper. Flintknapping is the ancient art of shaping tools and weapons from pieces of stone. Knapping was part of the survival skill set of Native Americans. Arrowheads, knives, hatchets, and more were shaped from raw pieces of flint or chert.  Ken knapping at the Wallace Reunion Ken became interested in this process back in 1985. One of his favorite pastimes was searching fields for arrowheads, both of which are pretty plentiful in Western New York. Freshly plowed ground in rural areas often yields many different types of arrowheads since the Iroquois were the original residents of what are now corn fields and cow pastures. Fascinated with how the Iroquois made their weapons and tools, Ken started to try and recreate them. He says a lot of trial and error were involved in the...
1 comment
Read more

Second Chances

Tonight, I'll be teaching a women's Bible study at our little church on the border. We're studying the book of Jonah. It's a familiar Sunday School Bible story, many of us have heard over the years. It's easy to focus on the "great fish" and there have been innumerable debates over the actual "great fish" that swallowed Jonah. However, the fish is a minor player in this book. The real focus of the four short chapters is the dialogue between God and Jonah. God begins the conversation with Jonah, who's a well known prophet in Israel. He tells him to go to Nineveh, a great city in Assyria and tell them that God's judgment is coming. Now the Assyrians were Israel's archenemies, despised and hated by any self-respecting Israelite. There was a reason for this. The Assyrians were unspeakably cruel and wicked. Israel had been captured, plundered, and massacred by these people. Judgment for the Assyrians was probably music to the prophet...
2 comments
Read more