Thanksgiving Aloha

There was an awesome view of the sunset over Pearl Harbor as we gathered at a friend's house for our First Thanksgiving in Hawaii. Is there anything to compare with the red ball of the sun dipping down into a bay? The sky rolls out in color, the mountains loom at the edge of the water, and the ocean mirrors it all. When the sun disappeared, the first Christmas lights glowed red and green in little gatherings along winding streets. Our First Thanksgiving will quickly become our First Christmas. It is a fact that whatever it is, one does it for the First Time only once.

After that, it should come more easily, right?

So there we were, DH and I, at our First social gathering with Strangers. We met Aunty B, Uncle K, Mom, Grandma and the cousins and their little boy. Of course, I forgot everyone's name just as soon as it went in one ear. I was too nervous to remember anyone except Mom and Cousin K until Aunty J came with the turkey and Uncle M started to talk about cats. That kept us entertained until the cook called us all in for eats.

Just like on the mainland, there were lots of eats: turkey, Aunty B's stuffing, gravy, three kinds of veggies, two kinds of salad, cranberry sauce, ribs, rice, and two choices of bread. For dessert: jello mold from Grandma's recipe, pumpkin pie and adzuki bean shortbread squares. Okay, maybe that last wasn't quite like the mainland, but that's okay. Every family has its own traditions. At my house we had often had matzo ball soup with our turkey and at DH's there was sauerkraut and sweet potatoe pie.

While we were eating, we were kept entertained by a marathon showing of a young couple with twins and sextuplets. The family all follow the show, so the commentary was even more entertaining than what was going on on the tube.

"She's a neat freak. Look, look, she won't let them get dirty."
"Of course the twins are bratty. They've never gotten enough attention since the sextuplets came."
"They must be paying that very good friend. Why else would someone come over and fold laundry every week?"

The show, the food and the conversation kept us out much later than our usual time, but it was easy to stay and be social. And that's a First, in and of itself! Eventually, we packed up our share of leftovers and rolled on home to our little cottage without the sunset view, but all in all, it was a pretty darn good First. Sometimes, new is a good thing.

Here's hoping we all had Happy Thanksgivings and lots of leftovers!