This story isn’t racing related, but I wanted to share it.

Thanks to all those who read this blog throughout the year. I am grateful and humbled by you. I also wish to thank my medical team at Ascension St. Vincent for getting me back to health this summer.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving weekend. It’s just 109 days until St. Pete.

Harvest Home

There was enough at last. Our vegetable garden had finally produced the amount of food we needed for our garden Thanksgiving dinner. Vicki and I dreamed of creating the Thanksgiving meal completely from our garden one day. We drew our inspiration from Scott and Helen Nearing, who lived solely off the land in Vermont and Maine. New gardens need time to produce a bountiful harvest, and in our fourth year of gardening, we had enough to feed everyone who would attend.

Throughout the summer we froze green beans and set them aside for November. We still had plenty to enjoy immediately. The butternut and acorn squash ripened late in the season and kept well in the pantry. Varieties of potatoes left their cozy soil beds to get scrubbed and found a place near the squash, to wait for the celebration to begin.

We added carrots and tomatoes, some rescued from the first frost, to our arsenal of ingredients. Thyme, rosemary, and sage from the herb garden hung above the kitchen window after an August harvest.

On Thanksgiving morning blenders whirred, timers buzzed, knives chopped, the microwave dinged- composing a symphony as the bounties of the garden integrated into the final presentation. In the background “Harvest Home” and “We Gather Together” on the radio enhanced the meaning of the day.

Our garden Thanksgiving meals continued for several years, but that first one will always be the most rewarding. My favorite holiday hasn’t been the same since.