Musings Over Stuffing

I'm making the stuffing for Thanksgiving dinner. Since we are just rolls away from sitting down and my side involves adding hot water, butter, and some fork fluffing, I'm pretty sure I've got things under control. My Mom is at the stove where she's working on putting the two dozen rolls on a tray. I'm considering how it would be easiest to boil the water. The microwave which is above her head would be quickest....but also involves grabbing the glass measuring cup which is in the cupboard by her knee. I hear the oven creak open and as soon as she's moved, I've nabbed that space and more importantly, the stove.

It occurs to me as we dance around the kitchen in a ballet of food prep, that at work, our Habitat for Humanity Build Club is a lot like Thanksgiving dinner. My husband and Dad are watching from the sidelines, offering antidotes and unneeded advice while my Mom and I battle over who gets to use the saw. We both want to get our projects done. There is only one stove or one saw. We have to work together.

She had taken over from the start, even though it's my kitchen. I'm OK handing over the responsibility since she brought the turkey. It's hard though, because I know where all the things are she needs. I also know where the missing beaters are for the potatoes. They are in the camper and she doesn't want to wait while THE MAN ventures out to find them.

Why are they in the camper, he muses. Deviled eggs two camping trips ago, I mutter under my breath. He urges her to use the right beaters after he retrieves them and she gives him the eye ball. This happens weekly over at the Habitat House. Nobody has time to wait for the right (insert tool here) and sometimes the stain can gets opened with a chisel. That whole use the right tool for the right job motto does not apply when you are older than sixty. Nobody can tell you what to do, you've already done it the right way hundreds of times.

Besides, you can open a can of stain with a chisel. Or beat the potatoes with beaters for bread. It all works. In the end you have a delicious dinner or completed house. It's all pretty amazing when you think about it. Many hands coming together to create something brand new be it a house or a big family dinner. I'd venture to say each completed house is nearly miraculous. I'm nearly finishing the 5th that I've worked on and I'm still not sure how it will get all done. At work we mutter Build on Faith repeatedly although each time we say it it's just as scary as the first time.

The house will be done some day very soon and we'll be packing up our stuff and moving on to the next. This is very much like Turkey Day here. The leftovers are packed away in the fridge and it's time to move on to the next big event, Christmas. Time to get out the lights, tree and sparkly bits. The house we're moving on to doesn't have any lights, so it's time to get out the cage lights and get things lit!