Thanksgiving Dinner

Making Thanksgiving dinner is one of those events where more goes into the planning than the actual execution. Pies are best made the day before when the oven is free. Not much else can be made ahead of time, so there is a lot of waiting for the time to be right to cook. The turkey is stuffed and put in the oven early, then nothing. You can get the good dishes out and set the table. You can make lists of things to be done...at some point the potatoes are peeled and put on to boil, same for the sweet potatoes. A relish tray can be arranged.....then, all at once, the gravy has to be made the turkey taken out of the oven, the sweet potatoes put in the oven, the potatoes mashed, the turkey emptied of stuffing, carve the turkey, steam the asparagus....all in the last 15 minutes before everyone sits down. The whole morning is spent in anticipation, but there is nothing that can be done but wait.

Sometimes my class feels the same way. We start a project or topic, we fiddle around, then, all at once, papers are due, things need to be graded, exams are taken, papers are read, grades are handed in and the semester is done. All of the anticipation, all of the waiting, knowing that the onslaught will be coming and nothing can be done.

Then, like Thanksgiving dinner, it is all over, cleaned up, put away, washed and dried. The end.