Thanksgiving’s coming right up, and this year promises some changes from years past. It’s true I’ll be in Seattle with friends instead of with family in New York (and I’ll miss them), but the biggest difference is that by Wednesday afternoon, I’ll be very well acquainted with our turkey, Mashed Potato:

Affectionately (but not too affectionately) named by my carpool friend Margot, Mashed Potato is a White Holland, and weighed about 17 pounds yesterday. He and his 6 pen-mates have been living in her backyard for the last 20 weeks, and they’ll meet their end (at our hand) in two short days.

Needless to say, there’s been some awkward Googling of “turkey slaughter” and repeated watching of this Sarah Palin clip (why won’t that guy get out of the way so we can see how he does that?), but when it comes right down to it, I think we’re all interested in participating in our Thanksgiving meal in a meaningful way and are treating the birds and the process with due respect.

[ I’ll post more info about this after the deed is done, but out of consideration for the squeamish or vegetarian, it’ll be on its own page. ]