Alotta Monkey Business

A Wobble in the Gobble

Written for "Invalid Item" , no prompt, 11/23

We were invited to my son's for Thanksgiving and had planned to leave early on Thursday. But, things come up, and they did. We did finally manage to get on the road about noon. We decided to take a different route, more scenic and less traffic, so my wife punched in our desire route on her phone and let it guide us along as we watched the scenery and talked.

About the time we should have been coming to the interstate, I see a sign that indicates we are coming into the little town of Bertha. This would have been fine if we had been heading down Highway 71, but we weren't. Damned Google maps had sent us in a half circle. Since we were at Highway 71 now, we turned south and completed our two hour drive without any other misfortunes. It did, however, take us almost four hours with our undesired detour. Luckily, dinner was planned for around six so we still had plenty of time.

My son had been cooking the turkey on his wood pellet grill, and when we arrived the smell was enough to drive me crazy. We hadn't stopped for anything to eat and had just snacked a bit before leaving and that turkey smelled awesome. I'm alright with turkey, but it's no favorite, however, his bird had been brined, cooked over a wood fire, moist and tender, and tasted delightful.

He started the potatoes and a few sides shortly after we arrived, timing them to the turkey. But, before the water came to a boil, the lights dimmed, got bright, dimmed again, and then we were in the shadows of late afternoon. He lives in central Minnesota, so it wasn't dark yet, but it was getting close. Also, the wood grill requires electricity to feed the chips and monitor the temperature, so the grilling was done. He had preheated the oven for a side dish, so he put the turkey in the oven to keep it hot while we tried to figure out how to finish dinner; no power, no stove.

When he purchased the house, it was set up with a gas stove and an electric stove but he didn't think the gas stove would work without power since it's electronic ignition. But, it was old enough that the burners could be lit with a lighter. We were still without an oven, but at least we could cook on top of the gas range.

Dinner was a bit delayed as a result of the power outage, so we had our Thanksgiving dinner around seven, by candle light. Everything turned out terrific despite the wobble in our gobble day feast, and dining by candlelight made the meal even more memorable.

The power did come back on later that night and everything seemed to be fine. Even though the power was out for almost four hours, the house stayed comfortable (it was below freezing outside) and we enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with plans to return home Friday; but, sometimes plans change, and once again, ours did and we didn't get headed back until late Saturday. But, a good time was had by all, and if it wasn't for us expecting company, we likely would have waited and drove home Sunday.

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