DU, what are your plans for Thanksgiving this year?

[barbtries]

Last edited Tue Nov 17, 2020, 11:32 PM - Edit history (1)

I've been in the house for over 8 months, living with my middle son who works in a grocery. My youngest son lives with his girlfriend the next town over and he's been working from home for over 8 months but goes out much more often than I do. His girlfriend has to go to work every day, 5 days a week, even though her job could be done from home (I will be forever bitter over this stupid selfish decision).

We are eating together on Thanksgiving. Since the pandemic, we have been together a handful of times, including one evening at their house for the older one's birthday. At 4pm EST, we will have a ZOOM with the rest of the family, meaning my son and his family, their father and his wife, and possibly the middle son's 2 sisters.

I am 65 with comorbidities and frankly, scared. I know I'll keep the patio door open unless it's pouring rain outside. We will make the table bigger so we can sit further apart. I am thinking that I will provide separate serving spoons for each person. I don't know. It's my favorite holiday and I love making the feast and being with my loved ones, but covid looms large.

My niece is having a bunch of people over (in Eastern WA and Idaho), and my sister says she'll probably go. She's 71 with early Alzheimer's. I am distressed over this but from what she's posted on fb, I know there's no point in appealing to her to change plans, just for this year.

So I really wonder how y'all are planning to stay well, not just for thanksgiving but for all of the dark winter of 2020-21.

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. Hey Barb!

Waving at you now from 4 hours west. Sue and I are going to have a Thanksgiving dinner for two - just us. One daughter in Seattle - no-one in our family is getting on a plane any time in the foreseeable future. Daughter that you know wants to come, but she works at a grocery store - neither us nor she thinks it would be wise, so she is staying put as well. We are also planning on Christmas for just the two of us.

Be well, my friend - stay safe, hang in there.

[barbtries]

9. you too Craig!

Happy Thanksgiving

If she's close enough, I did consider just packing up the feast for youngest and his girfriend and having them pick it up! But, we are going to eat together. Two of us more risky than the other two, but it's not as bad as eating out or doing what I would have loved to do, traveling to CA.

I'm with your daughter, have no plans to fly any time soon. it's not just the planes - it's the airports. crawling with covid.

[apcalc]

26. Can you eat outside? If so, that would be so much better.

[barbtries]

29. it's pretty sure to be too cold,

plus I don't have patio furniture - it's a small townhouse with no real yard.

But I do plan to keep the patio door open to let fresh air in unless it's pouring outside.

[luvs2sing]

2. We will celebrate with two friends..

who are in our bubble and we see regularly. Two other couples are planning to Skype in so we can enjoy dinner kinda sorta together.

[flibbitygiblets]

3. Don't do it (please). One Thanksgiving/Christmas is not worth the risk.

You will have the rest of your lives to make up for this one holiday. May I suggest you do everything you would have otherwise done, but hold a "zoom" thanksgiving instead.

Best of luck in whatever you decide.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. None. I'm staying home by myself, with my cat.

Don't do it. Thanksgiving isn't important enough to risk going anywhere to be with anybody. It's just a big dinner where we eat too much; we can do that some other time - maybe next summer if we're lucky. Same for Christmas. We don't need to celebrate it on 12/25.

[PJMcK]

8. Good advice, TVO

We're having dinner alone, just the two of us.

Why take the risk?


ETA: The "holiday" isn't that important, is it?

[barbtries]

15. i get it. i've mulled it a lot.

I am going to take the risk of having dinner for 4. These 3 people are the only ones I have been in close contact with over 8 months so consider them my inner circle. My son who lives with me represents the likeliest greatest risk of all of us.

Probably won't do much if anything at Christmas except leave presents on the porch and pick them up from the porch, then Duo while we open.

[totodeinhere]

146. +1000. n/t

[Baltimike]

211. same. Still making a turkey though...a small one. nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

215. I hope the cat gets some turkey.

We'll be doing chicken, me and the cat.

[Baltimike]

217. Oh, he will for sure get some turkeeez and so will his siblings

That little shit is trying to get me to let him out as we speak. It's *adorbs*. He. is. staying. inside.

[Lisa0825]

5. Dinner for 1.

I live alone, and I am usually invited for dinner with one of the other of my besties and their families. I don't want to risk it this year, thinking more about them than myself.

I'll probably buy some turkey legs or thighs, make my own little feast, and binge watch something or other on TV.

I am very thankful that I have a job I can work from home, a roof over my head, and food on my table. I can pass on the celebratory side of the day this year.

[judeling]

13. Make so calls

To your besties just to touch base.

[Lisa0825]

49. Will do :-)

[smirkymonkey]

82. Same here.

Our family's plans fell through this year due to Covid, so we are all staying home. I am the only one who lives alone but I don't mind at all. It will be kind of nice not to have to deal with all the drama, and especially the clean-up. I love being able to do exactly what I want, when I want. I am becoming less social as I get older.

[dflprincess]

6. I'm making two or three each of the deserts I normally bring.

I'll drop some off at one nephew's, more at one of my nieces, and the last bunch at my sister-in-law's. She will have a "care package" of Thanksgiving Dinner for me to take home. The only thing that might change is that I'd eat at SIL's. If I do that would make 8 people in the house, rather than the 30ish we usually have. But as SIL is the only one I see regularily, I may take the food home.

[barbtries]

17. that's a great plan.

I'm watching the numbers where we live every day. If they explode between now and then I may do something like that instead, but as of today I do plan to have them over.

[Voltaire2]

7. Watch in horror as my spouse proceeds with

dragging the kids home for a meal. She’s lost her mind. I get it. We all have pandemic brain. At least she is pretending it is going to be outside. In New England. In November.

It is like one of those cheap horror movies where the writers couldn’t invent any plausible motivation for why characters do stupid shit that is obviously going to get them killed.

[barbtries]

19. oh boy.

she's got a lot of company. sorry you have to live with that mindset.

[marlakay]

10. If you are concerned wear a mask except

Eating no matter what anyone says.

We are by ourselves, I just drove down to CA I am in Oregon to visit my 92 yr old mom for first time in a year, we went out to eat outside overlooking the river. I saw my daughter too, she works in the public so I didn't get too close.

I was concerned but mom was begging me to visit, its been 10 days at home now so I was lucky.

Thanksgiving a nice restaurant in Ashland is doing curbside box fancy dinner and we ordered that since its just us. I used to cook a gourmet meal if we were alone but just don't feel like it this year. Probably will FaceTime chat with my daughter's out of state and mom.

[barbtries]

24. Glad it worked out!

Especially for your mother, it sounds as if she is a vital 92.
the rest of my family is in CA and as you know it's been bad there. it's where I'm from, it's home, and i am so homesick. Last year my kids who are in NC with me and I went to a nice restaurant for Thanksgiving, and I flew to Vegas, met my other son and kids, then drove to CA and spent a whole week there.

that was the last time. Never got to go there all this year. In 13 years in NC, this is the first one I didn't get to go home at all.

[marlakay]

115. Yes wouldn't have gone if it wasn't

A road trip only 5-6 hr drive and I stayed in my cousins old family home she owns but only stays in during the summer she is up in Seattle so I knew we would be alone in the house.

Mom is very good for her age, she lives in a small apt of a senior place that provides meals and cleaning if you need medical you have to sign up for that, so far she is still able to shuttle to doctor. They provide shuttle too.

She is real good about wearing her mask. She has a choice now to eat meals downstairs or they bring to apt, since this started she mostly eats alone in apt.

My daughter's and I video chat with her weekly and text all the time on a group chat or just me and her. My granddaughter taught her how to text years ago, really helps because her voice gets shakey.

I am also the one who orders and sends my mom all the supplies she needs like toilet paper, etc. And that is very pricey to send by mail now. When I went I brought her big Costco supply of that and paper towels, wipes, cleaners and all the things hard to order online. She does have a cleaner that comes once a week but still likes to wipe off counters more during this. And I brought her Christmas tree small ceramic one that lights up and candles with led flickering lights in them.

Her senior place took our temp, we had on masks, and they made us fill out a long questionnaire.

So far not a single person has been sick there, they are very careful.

[barbtries]

126. if you have Amazon

you can have all the paper goods shipped directly to her. with prime, for free, and they're generally there the next day.

[judeling]

11. We are celebrating separated

As we have been.

But we a doing dinner at the same time and zooming. The tradition as always has been that each branch brought their specialty. So this year we are setting aside an extra set of calls to do that specialty under direction separately. Since these are basically side dishes.

For the main course I normally am the one who does the Turkey and Stuffing, and my sister does the Ham. That is staying the same but we are doing them the day before and distributing them to the individual families that live in town in the morning. For those out of town the main course is going to be up to them.

We have done a couple of events this way so far and it has worked out pretty well. Between zoom and side conversations over the phone it felt strange at first but increasingly less so. Last month's wedding actually ended up pretty fun.

[barbtries]

25. how wonderful

for you and your family that you are all so smart and creative! sounds as close to perfect as Thanksgiving 2020 could possibly be.

[MLAA]

12. A friend who normally cooks is making to go dinners for the usual attendees.

We each will drive by and pick up our (just me and husband) dinner and bring it home to warm up in the oven and eat alone.

No meal is worth dying or killing for 🙂

[Jeebo]

14. I'll go to the grocery store and buy two Hungry Man turkey dinners.

I'll eat one on Thanksgiving day, early afternoon, for the mid-day meal, and eat the other one a few hours later for the evening meal.

I'm a 70-year-old retiree, living alone, with my feline friend Fred.

-- Ron

[barbtries]

27. well if you live in Durham NC,

scrap those plans and drop by my house and I'll make you up a plate of the real deal. To go of course, non-contact

[Jeebo]

32. Thanks very much for the offer, I'd take you up on it, but ...

... I live in Columbia, Missouri. I did, however, graduate from R.J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem. Only in North Carolina can a high school be named for a tobacco company.

-- Ron

[barbtries]

60. yeah, the same state

where tobacco built one of the best schools in the country.

[Dem2]

16. Depends

I may be in quarantine depending on my coworkers test.

Otherwise, I may visit my mom, but no group larger than 2-3 since she's elderly.

[barbtries]

31. oh boy.

when do you find out??

[Dem2]

34. Sooner the better

She just got tested today.

I'm annoyed and trying to keep busy so I don't think about it.

[TlalocW]

18. One of my sisters and I live in the same city

We have another sister (and brother) in different cities. For most of our lives, holidays have been spent over at the other sister's house. She and BIL live in the country and have a big house. Since Mom died in 2015, we've given them space to not have to feel like they need to host us and have smaller occasions with their direct family. She invited us all to Thanksgiving, but I begged off because COVID is surging in my city, and that prompted my brother's wife to do the same. Same-city sister and I have gotten Thanksgiving (and Christmas) dinners from a local grocery store chain these past five years. This year, we're getting it from a restaurant, and we'll eat at my work. I work nights at a Red Cross distribution center and am alone on Thursdays so she'll come, and we'll eat while I keep an eye on emergency orders.

TlalocW

[barbtries]

148. sounds like a plan.

good food, good work, good company.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

20. Here's a risk assessment planning tool that estimates by county the chance that

at least one infected person is likely to be present in a given-sized group. https://covid19risk.biosci.gatech.edu/ For example, in my county in a group of ten people there is a 34% chance that someone will have it. The risk is 46% in a group of 15, and 87% for 50 people.

[barbtries]

37. thank you!

I tried to access that page the other day and it didn't work, but it did just now. I'm bookmarking that.
If we had a party of 10 our risk would be 10-11%. There will be 4 of us. I do believe that the risk to me is only slightly higher than it is on a daily basis because of my son's work.

[cry baby]

21. I'll be alone with my rotisserie chicken and Stovetop Stuffing.

My son will probably stop by to have a quick masked visit on the deck.

It’s going to be a different kind of holiday season. It’s ok to be lonely this year to buy many more holiday seasons to come.

[moonscape]

22. I'm remaining in self-isolation and will be

remembering holidays past, and thinking of future ones I want to be around to enjoy.

I had big plans for a decade milestone birthday, but the pandemic meant phone, email and home alone instead. I wondered how I was going to feel about it and found the morning of
I mostly didn’t care. Just another day. That was both relieving and sad.

I’m expecting, hoping, these holidays will be the same.

Watch out 2021 though!

[barbtries]

39. you got that right.

This year has dragged and dragged and flown by in a minute, because every day is pretty much the same as every other day.

I'm thinking maybe April 2021 before I go anywhere. Maybe later depending on case counts and vaccine progress.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

23. I live alone and I'm eating alone.

You really, really need to reconsider having anyone over.

Separate serving spoons won't matter, unless in normal times people lick the serving spoon then put it back in the dish. The risk is being in an enclosed space for a period of time and one of the people has the virus and is contagious.

Is it worth the risk? I'm going to be heartless here and ask, "How much are you looking forward to a funeral in December?" "Or someone being sick for months and months?"

So many people are simply determined to have a get-together for Thanksgiving, claiming they're tired of being locked away. Well, how tiresome will a hospital stay be?

I keep on thinking it's good that WWII happened three generations ago, because today half of the people would say blacking out their windows at night is an infringement on their freedom. Or helping clear out rubble from bombs just isn't their thing.

Sorry if I sound heartless, but every time I see some story of someone who was totally convinced this whole virus thing was blown out of proportion until they got it, well just think about it.

[barbtries]

42. no, I've been saying that all year.

The difference is leadership. If we had a leader who came out and said, this is what's happening and this is what we have to do to get through, i don't think it would be like this at all.

In WWII the entire country came together to defeat a common enemy. I think there was a moment following 911 when we were a single country in our grief.

Republicans fucked it right up. trump sealed it. we lost the pandemic. History repeats itself.

[KewlKat]

28. BBQ ribs for two, baked potato w/butter and a veggie

[apcalc]

30. We will eat home alone, but taking some dinner each to a friend and my sister.

[KWR65]

33. Stay home & stay safe.

I'm immune compromised so I can't take any chances. I'm no trumpster denying idiot. Good save the the sick!

[mindfulNJ]

35. Turkey dinner for 2

We just cancelled our plans. We usually host a huge dinner...I've had as many as 30 people around my table. It will be just my husband and I this year.

[barbtries]

43. you did the right thing.

the way i look at it is we miss each other this year but we're all still here for next year. a quarter of a million families already will be missing a loved one to this virus.

[MissMillie]

36. Cooking traditional dinner for my man and myself

We will most definitely have more food than we need.

I will probably bring some dinner over to my sister's house. She lives nearby and has had to cancel her plans to travel. (She was planning to go out of state to visit another sister, but she would be required to quarantine for 2 weeks and she cannot do that because she needs to work IN the office at least once every week.)

[captain queeg]

38. Cancelled our usual get together, we've been doing it for 30 years or so

I might go over to the ex’s and eat with my son out back at the picnic table. Or maybe just stop by and get a plate to go. Some friends who have been holding a potluck for years will just be doing a drive by pie event. Drive up and they’ll give you a slice of pie to go, offered on a snow shovel. Everyone I know is being pretty careful it sucks but I’d hate to see anyone get sick. Most of my acquaintances are 60+, just not worth the gamble. I’m fairly healthy, I’d probably survive an infection, but don’t want to be sick as a dog for a couple weeks which seems to be the most likely outcome.

I’ll be glad when 2020 is over. Well, probably a couple months into 2021 when the interloper is out of the WH and the pandemic is finally under control

[barbtries]

46. maybe you can ZOOM

for a get together - we'll be doing that with our family in CA

[Generic Brad]

40. What? It's November already?

All the days bleed into each other. I roll out of bed and find myself immediately at work for 12 hours. Then I go downstairs to eat. I exercise in the basement. I unwind with a little TV and then find myself back in bed and the cycle begins again the next day.

Now I have to work in a turkey?

[MissB]

45. This.

I lose track of what day it is.

[barbtries]

51. yes.

plus: set your alarm for 26Nov2020, and take the damn day off!

that's what i do too by the way. get out of bed, walk across the hall, go to work. I do have a dog to care for and i don't work anywhere near 12 hours a day (!) but it's gotten to be more like a rut than a routine.

I've lived in shorts and a t-shirt and who knows if my shoes even fit it's been so long since I've worn them.

[happybird]

41. Going to Mom and Dad's

They are in my bubble and live about 20 min away. It will just be the three of us. I’m going to go over early to help cook and we are going to do the Christmas tree after dinner. Looking forward to it!

My sister and her family (6 hours away) are too casual about the virus so we haven’t seen, and won’t be seeing, them for a long time. They are trumpers who think, “We are young, fit, and healthy, we’ll be ok if we get sick.” Mom is bummed about not seeing the kids ... but that’s 2020.

[barbtries]

61. Maybe you can set up

a video chat to see the kids. That's how I'll be seeing my grandchildren this year.

[MissB]

44. Just Dh and I

And our pup and kitty.

I have siblings that I love that live 10-15 minutes away. Not having them over. Nope nope nope

[barbtries]

57. you can have a nice happy thanksgiving

call or video chat with your other loved ones. sounds like a plan.
from the responses it's clear that DUers have a healthy respect for the virus. to be expected.

[Ms. Toad]

47. What I would do in your situation - if I wasn't quarantined -

would be to bake your feast, get together (with masks) for a social gathering - and then send food home with the family to eat in separate households.

The real risk is eating together - since you can't eat with masks on.

I am currently quarantined because my daughter decided having a small social circle was protection enough, and was actively exposed (several hours unmasked) on Friday. My spouse has made similar decisions - and was passively exposed (an office mate she is regularly unmasked with started experiencing symptoms a week earlier - and came into the office on Wednesday. My spouse wasn't there . . . but the virus lingers in the air.)

I had planned to prepare a meal for our family - and for my parents, drop it off to my parents who live in an extended care community - have a 2-hour visit with them - then go home to eay separately. That arrangement lets you do most of Thanksgiving (the food preparation and socialization) but omits the risky shared eating.

Unfortunately, since my family was selfish, it will be just the 3 of us at home. Yeah, I'm pissed about it. It will be the first year in about 30 that I haven't baked 20-40 pies to share with people not lucky enough to be able to be with their own families. All because the other two in my family thought eating with others, and skipping masks around friends and family was just fine. (My spouse was exposed the day I had a heart-to-heart with them about their habits; my daughter two days later. I've been wearing masks 24/7 for a week now, including at home, since they both told me they were unwilling to take small steps to protect me.)

You can have a small group gathering for Thanksgiving, bake and share food - just save the eating for when you are with the people you live with.

[herding cats]

48. Im having my mom and sister over.

Before people think I'm not being safe, they literally just moved out of my home a week ago into their new temporary space... an RV in my driveway.

We've all been cohabitating since September 13 after she lost her home 5 days before to a fire. We've only been around each other and have everything delivered or use curbside. We're basically as safe as you can get without living in a bunker.

It'll be nice to have them here for the holidays! We're putting up the tree next week before thanksgiving. Normally that's a no-no in our family, but we're all over 2020 and are trying to rush it out!

[barbtries]

54. oh wow, fire?

it's sounds like a good cozy group and as safe as possible.

[herding cats]

63. They lost everything they owned. There was literally nothing but ash left behind.

It was the North Complex fire in California.

They made it here and we've all been together ever since. They're healing mentally and we've gotten them some clothes dishes, household basics and the RV. They're so happy to have a space of their own, with their own things in it once again. In time, we'll get them into something better, but for now this works.

Try and be safe yourself. Seriously, this is one day and we can always have a do over with our loved ones once this is over... but only if we stay well and make it to when this is over.

[barbtries]

70. I'm so sorry to hear it.

Shit. I literally missed your first sentence on first read and typed, "Was it in CA? I know fires happen everywhere." then i read your post over.

My cousins lost everything in the Malibu fire, it was 2017 I think. absolutely everything, they didn't have any time to salvage a thing.

So glad they survived, but that is a huge loss nonetheless.

[herding cats]

81. We're just focusing on all the reasons we have to be thankful.

They were smart and hauled butt down the mountain when they left work and saw the glow on the horizon and the quarter sized ash was falling on them. They've been through fires near them before, but they both panicked at that time. They never once before had panicked during an evacuation. There was no mandatory evacuation even then. They called the fire department (their fire chief was on the Today Show today, such a good, kind person. He also lost everything to the fire.) and found out there weren't any updates and the smoke made it too hard to be sure of the fires location. They were being told it was from a fire a full county away. It wasn't. A backfire had been lit, the Devil Wind had stoked it and it was running down the canyon, straight at Berry Creek. Which was incinerated a few hours later. In the end, 16 people died who didn't make it out in time. The vast majority lost everything or nearly everything. Others who didn't lose their homes are left in limbo in an ash covered landscape in the shadow of the towering skeletons of dead, burnt pine trees. It's apocalyptic to witness. My mom could not bear to view the devastation which once was her home of 30+ years, so we did it for her via a friend who was on the ground there. I'll never tell her what I saw. It would kill her to know.

Sorry to ramble! We're just extremely grateful we're all together this Thanksgiving. ❤️

[barbtries]

83. you have a really great attitude.

i think there must be a grieving period for a loss of this magnitude. I hope you have lots of pictures in other places or media. I'm going through my cedar chest and whenever I post a picture on fb my cousin always comments about how great it is to see because they lost it all. Her father was a photographer too, so they lost a lot of history.

He was still alive at the time 95 years old or so, and he and his companion were on PCH for 6 hours or more between Malibu and Santa Monica. They had lost everything in 1961 in a fire as well. But never considered living anywhere else.

[herding cats]

89. I'm trying.

Bear in mind I have been trying to heal two people who lost so much recently. I'm just thrilled to see them relaxing and smiling a bit.

Thank you for reminding me about all the photos I have of the place and area when it was beautiful! When they're ready I'll share them with them. I have 1,000's of them in a folder (digital) I can share with them later. I haven't even thought of that yet.

[mnhtnbb]

96. I'm so sorry to hear about the fire. Lost mine

to house fire in 2007. However, there were a few things salvageable since the fire department was able to prevent it from burning to the ground. The thing I miss most are the baby books I kept for my two boys and everything I'd ever written in journals along with the only photo of my stillborn daughter. We actually found a couple of photo albums that were packed so tight on the bottom row of a bookshelf that the fire didn't destroy them. The insurance claims person showed us how to remove the photos and lay them out to dry. Eventually, I had someone scan the best ones and save them to a disc. Friends and relatives returned photos and albums to me that I'd sent years earlier to them.

My heart goes out to your mom and sister.

[leighbythesea2]

50. Myself and mom

She turned 79 yesterday. Not taking any chances. I will make everything normally do so we will have a weeks worth!
Because I've moved around have often travelled the day of Thanksgiving either by plane or car.
Have had a lot of weird meals etc.
This seems low key and can count on the good food. It's a win.
Be safe, fresh air with door open is good idea.

[barbtries]

52. thank you

have a wonderful feast with your mom, and tell her Happy Birthday!

[Staph]

53. I live with my 97-year-old mother.

She's sharp as a tack - she got one of those "Hi, Grandma! It's your grandson!" scam phone calls today and strung him along for a few minutes before laughing at him and hanging up.

Mom and I are dining alone this year, probably on turkey takeout from Bob Evans. We usually have anywhere from six to twelve for Thanksgiving. Instead of getting together, we're having a family Zoom call, with participants from the east coast to Phoenix to Seoul, Korea. All of the kids and grandkids will be on, about twenty people, with the possible exception of one of granddaughter, who is spending her first married Thanksgiving with the new in-laws.

I can't wait for the Zoom call. This one will actually be fun!!

[barbtries]

56. Sounds good.

We've gotten Bob Evans a few times during the pandemic.

I'm cooking probably enough for 12 people, for 4 people. fortunately we enjoy leftovers.

[Staph]

66. Thanksgiving leftovers are my favorites!

I have a thing for turkey sandwiches with cranberry-orange relish on top.

[barbtries]

68. you sound like my brother

but he has to have sweet pickles on his, because my mother always set out a dish with black olives and sweet pickles at thanksgiving.

i prefer just having the same meal over and over. my sons love shepherd's pie and if there's enough turkey i will make it for them.

[marie999]

55. None

[mentalsolstice]

58. Just my husband and I.

A late afternoon meal. After that, if the weather is nice, cocktails on the beach for sunset. It beats spending it with family, we both come from crappy families. We’ve felt a little guilty for using the virus over the past months to get out of family obligations, but it works.

I want this hell to end....however, I don’t look forward to my delusional mom and boyfriend, my husband’s ultra religious sister and her grifter kids descending on us.

[barbtries]

65. I think it was Trevor Noah

who said the terrible thing about the virus is you can't be with your family over the holidays, and the great thing about the virus is you can't be with your family over the holidays.

I do have loved ones who are equally delusional, foxbots not evangelical (thank GAWD). we wouldn't be getting together anyway because...politics. anyway they live across country.

[Tanuki]

59. It's supposed to be 71 degrees on Saturday here in Nashville, so my best friend since college and I

are planning to pick up curbside takeout from a restaurant we both like (driving in separate cars), eat outside, and call it Thanksgiving 2020. We can't really count on much more outside weather this time of year and didn't want to risk having it turn out to be chilly or rainy on the actual holiday, so we are just doing our best to find a safe and workable alternative. We will be just as thankful on Saturday. Even though I am not making or attending a traditional Thanksgiving dinner this year, I saw that frozen turkeys are just 49 cents a pound at Kroger if you buy $25 of other stuff. I am thinking about buying a big one one and thawing it out at a later date when I have time.

[alittlelark]

62. Just me - making a jiggly cake and looking at gf recipes

2020 kinda sux ALOT.

[barbtries]

75. it does.

2020 is sure to go down in history as one of the worst years in American History. trump being president through it all made the pandemic a perfect storm of catastrophe.

what are gf recipes? Post a picture of your jiggly cake?

[Iggo]

64. Eating good.

That’s it.

Just our household.

No visiting. No visitors.

Been that way since March.

It’ll stay that way til there’s a vaccine.

[marybourg]

67. Just me and the cat.

[barbtries]

78. do you plan to cook,

or eat turkey?

[marybourg]

88. I'll prepare a meal, just like I do every day of the year.

Unless I decide to make chili- which I make with ground turkey - it probably won’t be turkey. Before I developed multiple food intolerances, and when my DH was alive, we used to lean towards lasagne on Thanksgiving. Thanks for asking and have a good T-day.

[northoftheborder]

69. Just 6 of us - outside

I think outside is doable here in central TX but Christmas may have to be cancelled! Although some December’s are as warm as spring time - never know!

[barbtries]

72. 6 is a crowd these days.

i'm glad you have the outdoor option going for you.
I'm being chastised for planning to have 4 of us, even though it's the only 3 people I've had human contact with over the entire pandemic.

[SoonerPride]

71. I am eating with my parents. Who I see every day at work

Just three of us

No other friends or family allowed.

It’s the only safe way to do it.

[barbtries]

73. Agree.

And it's not risk free if at work you have contact with others.
there's no such thing as risk free I don't think. but we can do all we can to minimize risk, and that's what you're doing, can't ask for more.

[SoonerPride]

76. We work in an office with no outside people coming in.

Our interactions with others is minimal and nearly zero.

Not totally zero.

But close.

And we still have a mask sign on our door and won’t let anyone in without a mask.

I just know mid December will be really bad and make Christmas even worse.

[barbtries]

79. oh yeah,

dec-feb = nightmare. and it's barreling down at us.
no one gets close to my door without a mask. I don't open the door until my mask is on. this is just food deliveries and the other day, the pest guy. I wouldn't even let him a few months ago but i don't want bugs. he was all masked and gloved and in and out in 5 minutes or so. then I sprayed lysol all over and washed my hands real well.

[58Sunliner]

74. I can see in your post you are not comfortable-scared. And you should be.

I like to cook up a feast too, but it is not worth risking your life for it, or the lives of your children. That is just crazy. I used to succumb to the pressure to cook a big meal and make everyone happy, but after I stopped, I just felt relieved. It crazy to think that we feel obligated to provide a meal that may very well harm us. It is insanity. Don't know you, but do yourself a favor and have a meal for one or two.
Making the table bigger will not help indoors. Frankly, your younger son should do the same and you have the chance to set an example for him of responsibility. Covid should dominate all of our actions right now, if they put us at risk. Sorry to lecture.

[barbtries]

77. go ahead.

you're not the only one.

After much thought this is my plan. It could change if our corner of the world blows up with covid between now and then, but I'll still cook; I'll just leave it on the porch for them to pick up.

I actually enjoy it and only do it once a year, if that. it's been a couple because we went out last year and then i was traveling the next day.

[58Sunliner]

92. I'm glad, because I know we all want to live to see DT out!

I wouldn't want any of us to miss that. And we have more work to do!

[mvd]

80. Likely a quiet one with my mom

Friends will stop in but not sure on the day itself. It has been a long time since I have been to a Thanksgiving gathering.

[barbtries]

84. Actually me too.

I have been to one in CA 3 or 4 years ago, at my brother's house, but usually it's just the few of us.

[Dem2theMax]

85. I live alone, and I will be having dinner by myself.

Lots of my neighbors are having relatives come for Thanksgiving dinner.

I wonder who, of all the neighbors, will die first.

Seriously.

[barbtries]

86. i hear you.

my fear is my niece's big dinner will result in my sister getting it. I may never forgive my niece in that event.

it's so frustrating that so many people in this country are so fucking stupid, selfish and brainwashed.

[Vivienne235729]

87. Have Thanksgiving at home. Just us. No friends or out of town family.

[Tikki]

90. The three of us are staying home....

...Mr. and I and the son who lives with us.

I am sending over stuffing and jello dessert and 2 pies to other son across town who will celebrate with wife and four young adults and at least four others.

I'll just say this now...my husband had a heart attack the end of March.
Stents went in and he is doing great...but we are not going to take any chances.
He, also, has somewhat of an immune deficiency condition....so
better off hanging here at the old homestead this Thanksgiving.

Tikki

[barbtries]

150. i'm glad your husband is doing well.

you're doing the right thing. your other son should quarantine before stopping by after his event.

[Tikki]

161. He will. My daughter-in-law is a nurse. The whole family is being cautious and safe.

I drove my husband to the hospital the morning he was complaining of chest pains.
Even though we live close; I learned a lesson.
What if his heart crashed in those minutes it took to drive him there?

There is always EMTs nearby and they have the equipment to keep him going.
He actually crashed within minutes of getting into the ER.

He is fine now..but no more mistakes from me.

Tikki

[barbtries]

177. it's so scary.

sometimes no matter how close help is, it's over. Sometimes a person can never get medical help and survives anyway and only later do they learn there was an infarction at some point.

I am happy for your husband and your family that it's worked out well. Clearly no incentive to go visiting or having company at this time.

[Chili]

91. just me, my dogs and cats

I've been cooking large Thanksgiving dinners since I was 21 - this will be the first time in 40 years that I haven't cooked - too stressed out...

Cuz my delicious Honey Baked Ham dinner is on it's way! My cooking consists of me and the microwave - can't wait!

Turkey breast with gravy
Honey baked ham
Stuffing
Corn soufflé (not as good as my Corn Pudding, but it will do!)
Green Bean Casserole (not as good as my Sweet/Sour beans with bacon & peppers but that's Okay!)
Stouffers Mac n Cheese (2nd only to mine )
Cranberry sauce (in a can! I usually make it from scratch, but hey!)
King's Hawaiian rolls
Sweet Potato Pie (or pumpkin) delivered from the grocery store

(I'll be eating leftovers for days!)

Works for me!

[barbtries]

121. dang. i almost feel

like forgetting the cooking! I hope it's as good as it sounds.

[peggysue2]

93. My husband and I + our dog will be eating alone

Our traditional trek to NJ and Philly has been cancelled. Because Covid.

Do I like this scenario? No. But as Trump so infamously said: it is what it is.

My husband and I are not about to be exposed or to expose others to the virus rampaging the country. We will call family members and friends, perhaps do a FaceTime greeting but the celebration we're accustomed to? Not going to happen.

Thank you, Donald Trump. For absolutely nothing.

Stay safe everyone. Try to have a decent Thanksgiving. By staying alive.

[Retrograde]

94. Just the two of us and a very small turkey

I'll call my relatives back east, but my county just upped it's cornoavirus restrictions, so they'll be just me and my husband. And lots of leftovers.

[mnhtnbb]

95. I will be eating alone as I normally do

since I live alone. I might make a turkey breast. Or just roast a chicken.

No dinner with my sons and their partners. Not this year.

The closer December gets with the house I'm buying being finished--new and under construction--the more anxious I'm getting that I stay well so I can move into it!

We're going to practically be neighbors, I see, from your post up thread that you are in Durham, which is where my new house is being built.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

97. I will be marching in the war against Thanksgiving, since some RWNJ revealed our secret.

The Left has always hated Thanksgiving

Dear Abbie,
It is cold on the front lines. We are down to stuffing our muskets with turkey bones, but the war must go on. We must root out all the thankfulness that has permeated our cancelled culture. It is a thankless job, but someone has to do it.
Sincerely,
Pvt Cranberry Sauce

P.S. Please send more gravy as it feels so good between the toes and makes our boots warmer on the long marches.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

98. K&R. Thanks for lightening up our day.

Dear Pvt. Sauce,

I'll be staying in the trenches as well.......

Lobbing cans of pumpkin pie filling at MAGAts using standard-issue soup can bazooka all day Nov. 26. It's the humanitarian thing to do. They can form their own damn crusts from sun-dried RW bullshit.

Pvt. Giblet N. Gravy........

[Hermit-The-Prog]

117. Beware of moles in turkey suits

While patrolling my perimeter, I observed what appeared to be some wild turkeys. They ran into the woods as I approached, so I cannot be certain they were not spies.

Beautiful weather here. Wish the folks hammered by hurricanes could get such a break.

[barbtries]

105. who is charlie kirk

he's really reaching there. i couldn't listen all the way through.

it is funny, but it's terrifying too. they live among us.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

116. I didn't make it all the way through, either.

I wonder if he snarls and foams at the mouth if anyone says, "Liberal!"

[ChazII]

99. One blessing about being alone

is being alone this holiday won't be a problem. No Zoom with friends although I have that option. I'm choosing to isolate and I am thankful for that option.

[barbtries]

109. I am so fortunate

that i can work from home and that my sons do all my running and shopping for me.

[totodeinhere]

155. And it's a blessing not having to worry about other housemates contracting the virus out of the

home and then bringing it back to expose you.

[GulfCoast66]

100. The wife and I plus the one friend in our Covid bubble are going out.

To a Spanish restaurant where we will dine outside. One advantage of being in Florida. Outside dining on thanksgiving.

[barbtries]

101. stay safe!

i hope all your fellow diners behave well, and your dinner is great.

[Celerity]

102. Nothing, we only celebrated it the two years I lived in the US as an adult. I'm the only US

citizen in my family anyway. They do have Thanksgiving celebrations for US expats here (and far more in London), but with the pandemic, most are cancelled. I have an American friend who is having an outdoor meet-up in a large park here in Stockholm, but it will probably be shit cold and likely raining (or worse). That is a hard pass, lolol.

[barbtries]

107. you're in Stockholm.

what is your take on the Swedish approach to the pandemic? UK is locked down again I believe.
happy thanksgiving anyway!

[Celerity]

114. we are now in our hardest lockdown yet

I have posted dozens of long, detailed, documented posts on Sweden and the pandemic for 9 months or so now, much of it countering a lot of disinfo that unfortunately still is all too common.

We got used as a political football by every side (the RW, who HATE everything else about Sweden tried to use us as a model for their fucked up agenda, and then much of the MSM reported the opposite way, using us falsely as a whipping boy to show the dangers of something that we never even did), with the biggest lie being we went for a herd immunity approach, which is just flat out completely untrue. There also was a number of articles, based off faulty data that came out before the actual numbers, that our economy was ruined anyway, that we were amongst the worst, or even the worst, in the entire EU which was also just pure dross.

I am at wit's end that these dual lies keep getting shovelled in the US media. So much disinformation about Sweden out there, especially in the US media, some of it just flat out lies. The worst thing that happened to us, framing wise, was when bad faith actors (with ZERO knowledge of what was actually going on) on the RW started trying to us us as a cudgel to beat their enemies in the US over the head with. I have posted so so many updates over the past 6 months, but it often gets lost in the fog, and also many take an a priori hostile stance in terms of anything to do with Sweden and COVID-19.


Herd immunity was never the primary goal here in Sweden. I keep seeing this posted over and over and it is simply incorrect. It has come up over and over again because some officials have started talking about Stockholm (where we live) reaching this level by the end of May. That has been misconstrued by so many to think that the drive for herd immunity is the principal core strategy, when it is not.

Hallengren: Sweden Not Pursuing Herd Immunity

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2020-04-29/hallengren-sweden-not-pursuing-herd-immunity

Sweden’s Minister for Health and Social Affairs, Lena Hallengren, explains the country is not pursuing a policy of ’herd immunity’ when it comes to coronavirus and that looser restrictions in Sweden are being used because of how long they may have to stay in place. She tells Daybreak Europe’s Caroline Hepker and Roger Hearing it is too early to make comparisons about which countries have made the right policy choices in addressing the pandemic.

Running time 11:20

(Audio at the link.)


Another huge myth, pushed by cheap, shoddy journalism is that it is the Wild West here, and basically the entire country is running around like banshees with zero mitigation actions. This is utter tosh.

see this article for further drilling down:

'The biggest myth about Sweden is that life is going on as normal'

https://www.thelocal.se/20200424/interview-isabella-lovin-coronavirus-the-biggest-myth-about-sweden-is-that-life-is-going-on-as-normal

also

Sweden to shut bars and restaurants that ignore coronavirus restrictions

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-sweden-stockholm/sweden-to-shut-bars-and-restaurants-that-ignore-coronavirus-restrictions-idUSKCN2262AX


Now I shall deal again with the very bad aspects of what happened, as I am in no way try to sugarcoat anything


Our large fail, a horrid tragedy (and the main reason we are so badly off in terms of deaths per million compared to Denmark, Norway, and Finland) was our nursing homes and our scattered site elderly care. They account for as much as 70% (there is a shedload of argument here atm, some say it is even higher, some say it is lower, around 55-60%, but certainly it is higher than our neighbour Nordic nations) of our deaths en toto. We (unfortunately) had a FAR more lax system in terms of visitation/protocols and in terms of higher staff turnover than the other Nordics do with their elderly-care homes. Those arguments and finger-pointings are now (and have been for months, even as the deaths has basically slowed to a drip) the hottest topic in the whole country atm. They fucked up bad.

Several months ago, on SVT (our state TV,) a group of doctors and healthcare experts (these fall into the group that say it is around 70% of all deaths) said we if had similar nursing home deaths and overall elderly deaths per million rates that Denmark has, our deaths per million OVERALL (for all age cohorts) would only be a wee bit higher than the Danes. They also said that if you adjust for the vastly increased level of COVID-19 in the immigrant/refugee saturated areas, and make their percentages of population the same as Denmark or Norway (let alone Finland which has by far the fewest number of immigrants and refugees as a % in all of the Nordics, most who go there are only going to immediately flood over the Finnish/Swedish border, as Denmark cut them off down south at the Öresund) that our overall death (when combined with a similar elderly care death rate as discussed above) would not only be lower than Denmark, but would be approaching Norway levels.

They also said that other Nordics are being far more conservative than Sweden has been with their COVID-19 death attributions so all the other Nordics have higher death rates than they are letting on (that war of words has been going on for months, and has gotten REALLY nasty at times, especially with Denmark versus Sweden, quelle surprise), All the other Nordics have a very hostile stance in regards to Sweden in terms of our refugee/immigration policy. That group (the refugees/immigrants) have also be really hard hit here as well, as they do not practice social distancing to a level anywhere near to what the native Swedes do, plus they are less well-off income wise, and also health wise (for a number of reasons.) That is the reason for the lowered death rates when adjustments are made for an apples-to-apples comparison, as opposed to the chalk and cheese raw numbers that are rammed in our face far too often. I do, however have to add, that ANY discussion, as I said above, of immigration/refugee here is Sweden has been a minefield for ages, although the Syrian conflict several years back, finally broke the silence (at peak, we were taking in the US equivalent of 3 to 5 MILLION a month and the far RW white nationalist Sweden Democrats (SD, in Swedish Sverigedemokraterna) were surging towards a historic, terrifying victory, until some of the other parties finally caved in and slowed the inflows and changed the laws (to a point).

(A bit of an aside, SD, whilst hardcore RW, white nationalists, are also pretty much VERY anti-Russian as well, for centuries-long historic reasons that are almost never talked about in the foreign press as well. We do have some hardcore, actual neo nazi parties who DO love Russia, but they are microscopic in size. The biggest, Alternativ för Sverige, has only around 1200 members, most other have less than 100)


more on the false charge of herd immunity being our basic strategy

Sweden hits back at Trump's 'herd immunity' criticism

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/sweden-hits-back-at-trump-s-herd-immunity-criticism-1.1419502

Sweden’s foreign minister Ann Linde has dismissed criticism by U.S. president Donald Trump concerning the country’s outlier strategy to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. “He has used a factual error,” the minister said in an interview on broadcaster TV4 on Wednesday. Her comments follow Trump’s remarks a day earlier when he told reporters that Sweden is trying to achieve “herd immunity” and “is suffering greatly” from not doing enough.

The Nordic country is under intense scrutiny as it continues to experiment with a laxer policy response to the virus despite an accelerating death toll. Restaurants, shopping centers and primary schools all remain open in Scandinavia’s biggest economy. “Some countries seem to think that we aren’t doing anything, but we’re doing a lot of things that suit Sweden,” Linde said.

President Trump’s comments have also drawn the ire of Sweden’s top epidemiologist. “If you compare the situation to New York, where I have a relative working, things here are working well,” Anders Tegnell said in an interview with state broadcaster SVT. Meanwhile Sweden’s prime minister Stefan Lofven has said he sees no reason to respond to Trump, according to Swedish newspaper Expressen. “I have spoken lately to about 10 heads of state and I note that we are all following the same lead strategy,” Lofven said.

snip

The vast bulk of foreign reporting simply ASSUMES that if we were not in total lockdown then that instantly means we are going for herd immunity. That is a pure logical fallacy, one that goes by multiple names: the Either/Or Fallacy, also sometimes called the Black-and-White Fallacy, or the Excluded Middle, or a False Dilemma/False Dichotomy.

Finally, to reiterate, many of the stories I have seen pushed also erroneously try and paint a picture that there are no restrictions (or very little) in place at all (my 'Wild West' analogy above), and certainly do not do any sort of deep, nuanced dive into what actually happened, why it happened, and what's happening at present, here on the ground.

Also, contrary to a lot of disinfo that I see pushed (especially in the US news) our economy contracted far less than the EU overall (the EU contracted 40% more, and multiple nations contracted close to, or more than double ours), and we are on track to go back to positive growth by Q1 or Q2 2021. The vast majority of our contraction came from a drop in exports, mainly from the supply chain for raw materials freezing up, and also from external demand from other countries diminishing. We also were the close to the only EU nation that has positive growth in Q1 2020.



Coronavirus: Sweden's economy hit less hard by pandemic

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-53664354

Sweden, which avoided a lockdown during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, saw its economy shrink 8.6% in the April-to-June period from the previous three months. The flash estimate from the Swedish statistics office indicated that the country had fared better than other EU nations which took stricter measures.

However, it was still the largest quarterly fall for at least 40 years. The European Union saw a contraction of 11.9% for the same period. Individual nations did even worse, with Spain seeing an 18.5% contraction, while the French and Italian economies shrank by 13.8% and 12.4% respectively.



Sweden has largely relied on voluntary social distancing guidelines since the start of the pandemic, including working from home where possible and avoiding public transport. Although businesses have largely continued to operate in Sweden, the country's economy is highly dependent on exports, which were hit by lack of demand from abroad.

The authorities here have always said the country's Covid-19 strategy wasn't designed to protect the economy. They have stressed that the aim was to introduce sustainable, long-term, measures. But the government did hope that keeping more of society open would help limit job losses and mitigate the effect on businesses.

snip


I saw the 'Sweden is destroyed economically' meme yammered on about for weeks on the US MSM telly networks, before the numbers even came out. Then when the numbers showed differently, they almost never retracted and now, once gain are pushing the tosh.

We are the most export-driven economy (and the largest overall) of the Nordics, and were hit with multiple exogenous shocks, from the global supply chain drying up, to demand for our exports falling rapidly. Those had little to nothing to do with our internal course of actions.

Norway is unique, as they are vastly more petrol driven, and their cost of production for North Sea crude is literally half of the UK's, so they can survive 30, 35 USD per barrel Brent crude prices, whereas the UK is fucked at that level.

Whilst we saw a historic economic contraction in the second quarter, the 8.6 percent decline was less than half that of the United Kingdom (-19.1 percent) and Spain (-18.5).

Finally, we also have suffered fewer COVID-19 deaths per capita than Belgium, Italy, Spain and the UK, even though all had strict government lockdowns (the UK, granted, did a truly half-arsed job on that, I fully admit that, fuck Boris Johnson.)





and Q1, which is deffo part of the holistic picture





This entire narrative about Sweden, no matter what the subject, is along the same spirit and lines of the jackasses who said by May our entire medical infrastructure would collapse and we would have as high as 96,000 (81,600 if we did exactly what we did do) dead from COVID by July 1st!. That study was ramrodded all over the US MSM as well, treated like bloody gospel.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.11.20062133v1.full.pdf




Another thing almost never discussed is that not just Sweden, but all of the Nordics told their populations for half a year or so to NOT wear masks. Norway and Denmark included, who are held up as global models of success. I repeat, they actively said to not wear masks, not just that they did not have to do so. They both did start to change a bit several months back, especially for train travel.

this video explains Norway's reasons (much of it cultural)

Because Norway and Denmark (especially Norway) had such success, and yet said do not wear masks for 6 months or so, the entire subject is rarely talked about as it would induce cognitive dissonance. Also, the Nordics have MANY other massive differences when compared to the US (that video above shows many of them). If Norway and Denmark and Finland had simply said no masks and also copied the red US states in all other aspects, they (as would any nation) would all be trainwrecks of death.



brand new article just popped up from the NYT which may cause more controversy (as if we needed any more, lol)

Danish Study Questions Use of Masks to Protect Wearers

Masks prevent people from transmitting the coronavirus to others, scientists now agree. But a new trial failed to document protection from the virus among the wearers.

Nov. 18, 2020, 9:00 a.m. ET

Few public health measures have ever been as contentious as the requirement to wear masks in public. Many Americans and public health experts view the measure as a civic obligation necessary to halt the pandemic now rampant in the United States. Others see it as an ineffectual infringement on personal liberty. President Trump has transformed mask-wearing into a partisan issue, less a sensible health protection than a badge of party affiliation.

A new study, the first of its kind, is likely to inflame the controversy. Researchers in Denmark reported on Wednesday that surgical masks did not protect the wearers against infection with the coronavirus in a large randomized clinical trial. The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, did not contradict growing evidence that masks can prevent transmission of the virus from wearer to others. But the conclusion is at odds with the view that masks also protect the wearers — a position endorsed just last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study arrives at a precarious moment. Coronavirus infections are soaring throughout the United States, and even officials who had resisted mask mandates are reversing course. Roughly 40 states have implemented mask requirements of some sort, according to a database maintained by The New York Times. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, advocates a national mask mandate, as does President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. “I won’t be president until January 20th, but my message today to everyone is this: wear a mask,” Mr. Biden recently wrote on Twitter.

snip

In an editorial accompanying the new study, Dr. Laine, Dr. Steven Goodman, an editor at the journal and an epidemiologist at Stanford University, and Dr. Eliseo Guallar, deputy editor of statistics at the journal, said that the Danish trial was “carefully conducted in a real world setting.” Still, they acknowledged the risk of misinterpretation. “With fierce resistance to mask recommendations by leaders and the public in some locales, is it irresponsible for Annals to publish these results, which could easily be misused by those opposed to mask recommendations?” the journal editors wrote. “We think not,” they added. “More irresponsible would be to not publish the results of carefully designed research because the findings were not as favorable or definitive as some may have hoped.”

snip


I shall conclude with a brief rundown of why Sweden was hit so hard early (we are now far below the horridly high world rankings of before, in deaths per million we were as high as 4th globally, now we are 21st and dropping, and in terms of cases per million, we were as high as 10th, now are 46th and dropping).

https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/09f821667ce64bf7be6f9f87457ed9aa (this is the official data from Folkhälsomyndigheten, our state health agency)

1. The pandemic here is very much age specific in terms of deaths and intensive care, 99% of all deaths are 50 years of age and above, 96% 60yo and above, 90% 70yo and above, almost 70% 80 years of age and above, and 27% 90 years old and above. The bottom half, age-wise (5.05 million or so) of our population have only had a combined 31 total deaths, YTD. No schoolchildren have died, despite the schools remaining open. Under 20 years of age there have been 2 deaths, a 4 year old 7 or so months ago, and an infant a month or so ago, both with multiple comorbidities. Adjusted for the US population, this would be like the bottom 165 million people in the US having around 1,016 total COVID-19 deaths.

2. Sweden has a different governmental system than the rest of the Nordics, in terms of centralised government power. Our Riksdag (parliament) has far less direct power than the Norwegian, Danish, or Finnish parliaments. The state heath agencies have far more control, and they bollocksed up badly in the beginning (IMHO), including no full lockdowns (which is a large difference, although only one) from what the other Nordics did. The government here is by design constitutionally forbidden from just snapping its fingers and shutting the nation down. They have passed some new laws that give them more power, but nothing like the other Nordics. The government relies on citizen obedience on a voluntary basis, which generally works very well with the native Swedes, and the 3rd and more generation assimilated immigrants, but not so much with the other groups (I discuss this below).

3. Our elderly care homes and scattered site elderly care system was crushed. The reasons for this are multiple, but some huge problems are the openness of it (versus the other Nordics) and then the state of the healthcare providers there, who have become far less professional over the past 15, 20 years as we have haemorrhaged so many to professionals to Denmark and Norway due to higher wages. The vast bulk of them were replaced by less-skilled and many non-native Swedes, which brings me to my next point.

4. Sweden is far more diverse than the other Nordics, especially Finland and to lesser extent, Norway and Denmark. We have a higher percentage, population-wise, of non Western European 1st and 2nd generation immigrants and refugees than the US does now, for instance, approaching 30%, and Malmö, (in the far south (Skåne ie Skania region, right across the Öresund from Copenhagen, Denmark), has the highest percentage on non Western Europeans (over 50%) of any city over 250,000 in any core EU nation. In the past 20 years or so, we have taken in the US population-adjusted equivalent of over 50 million refugees, the vast, vast bulk of whom are non western European. The socio-cultural differences are massive, and one of the big ones is the way they live versus the way native Nordics live (although immigrants who have been here for 2, 3 generations or more, at least the younger gens, live like the native Swedes, ie often alone and with natural social distancing in their normal lives, even pre-pandemic, which again, you can see in that video about Norway above). Our immigrant/refugee heavy areas were much more heavily hit than the rest of the country. They tend to live inter-generationally, in far more close quarters, and do not at all naturally social distance, whether at home or in their jobs. Thus they far more easily transmit the virus. They also now make up a large percentage of our elderly care workers, and helped spread it like wildfire there.


Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to be thorough in my answer.

cheers

[barbtries]

118. thank you!

i read it all and even watched the video.
I am guilty of having had the perception that Sweden was following a herd immunity plan. as it turns out, that was trump and his joke of a task force doctor Atlas.
I did miss every other post from you.

This should be an OP by the way. I think i just gained an IQ point or 2!

i believe in mask wearing and have since early on. but it's not science-based, but rather the observation that it is an everyday occurrence in Asian countries, most of which had dealt with SARS and MARS (?) with great loss of life. Then I watched an interview with a doctor from South Korea discussing the use of masks in the context of the history of these previous epidemics. But it's true that WHO and the CDC (which I quit trusting in March because it had been taken over by trumpsters to such an extent) kept saying for a long time that the mask is not for you but for others. We also had severe shortages and for months you could not buy a mask. Now on my doctor's advice I have procured an N95 and a face shield for when/if I need to go out and march to resist a trump coup.

This virus was never going to be a picnic for anywhere. It's tragic here in the US. Older people are at much higher risk of death, but the hell of it is that that doesn't mean any single person may not die from covid. even babies, even young people. Clearly we have not had the testing and tracing that was called for since Day 1. People in nursing homes, prisons and jails, and meat packing plants were unprotected. It's devastating. We are victims of trump and his republican enablers as well as this rabid virus.

Thank you again - stay well! It's going to be a hard winter.

[Celerity]

133. yw, and I have done OP's before, it would just be re-treading old ground tbh

I felt I owed you a decent and thorough answer, but I have to be honest, it is exhausting, lol

cheers

[barbtries]

134. remember when you could

favorite people on DU so you didn't miss a post? I wish they'd bring back that feature.

[Celerity]

136. I have only been here on DU since summer 2018, so perhaps that was before my time?

It sounds like a great feature

[barbtries]

140. yeah, it was

in the previous iteration. i've been around since gw and can't recall when the change was made but it was definitely before 2018.

it was a great feature. i've asked the admins about it but it's never shown up since.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

157. Thank you, this was very interesting.

I do recall reading that Sweden had been hit especially hard at the beginning by deaths in care homes. To some extent that was true here also, and was attributable in considerable part to the transmission of the disease to the elderly by the care-givers, many of whom are poorly-paid immigrants. When my mother was in an assisted living home some fifteen years ago, almost all of the workers were immigrants from Nigeria and other African countries. They were very kind and professional, but they were making minimum wage for a difficult, stressful job. That situation has not changed; and as in Sweden, new immigrants, for economic as well as social reasons, tend to live in closer quarters, have less access to adequate health care themselves because of our shitty health care "system," and therefore have been more susceptible to catching the virus and transmitting it to the people they look after.

More recently, though, since many states never had any kind of restrictions and others lifted many of them, most of the spread is through the community - particularly young people at parties and in bars and restaurants. Wearing masks has stupidly become a political statement, and while the jury apparently is still out as to the extent to which they are effective, they do help reduce transmission. But the covid-deniers won't wear them because the disease is a hoax and having to ear a mask infringes on their "freedom." (Pants are required in public everywhere, too, but apparently they don't consider mandatory pants-wearing to be a problem.)

I got a chuckle from the video because it sounds an awful lot like Minnesota. We don't like to touch or hug either, and a lot of us live alone. Mask compliance has been pretty good in the cities, but some of the rural areas have become seriously Trumpified, and those have become the worst hot spots. That's where they and their GOP representatives have been fighting the governor's restrictions because, well, "freedom." If the Nordics had as many brainwashed idiots as we do they'd have been in the same crap shape as we are now.

And one more question: Why is Sweden at odds with Denmark lately (apart from covid and the fact that spoken Danish is unintelligible)?

[Celerity]

162. I think we allowed the craziest of the crazies here (Sweden, Norway, Demark) to wander off to

MN, WI, IA, MI, etc in the 1800's, lolol.

In all seriousness, it is just the American zeitgeist working its multi-generational 'magic' on the ones who fell under the racial spells weaved by the RW for centuries. We have plenty of nazis here too, (not SD, I mean actual neo-nazis like Nordfront, etc) but they have almost zero real power.

[JCMach1]

103. Feeling Thankful to be alive and celebrating

That...

Also completely cool with no plans.

[barbtries]

104. i'm thankful you're alive too

as well as myself and my extended family, thus far at least.

i believe 2 great uncles were lost in the 1918 pandemic, but don't know how to confirm it. They were in the war and all my mother always said about them was that they died from dysentery, not the war.

[JCMach1]

112. My grandmother's baby sister died in the 1918 pandemic

It also ALMOST took my great grandmother.

It hit them in Abilene, TX on a train on the way to Florida from Arizona.

I really think the BCG vaccine kept my wife and son from getting very sick at all. My son was lucky to be born in Nairobi I guess...

[Nexus2]

106. My plans are to be discharged from the hospital. *fingers crossed*

[barbtries]

108. ooh i hope so!

sooner than later.

[boston bean]

110. I am doing the usual dinner with all the fixings

For me and my husband.

Gonna give some to my sister for her to eat at her own home.

No visitors for thanksgiving. But the spirit and food will be present.

[Alex4Martinez]

111. I know people who think it's a sacred tradition worth dying over.

My wife wanted to have a dinner that brought her son and girlfriend from out of town here and we would go to restaurant for socially distanced dinner.

Thankfully, she came around and decided it would be smart to just be the two of us and get the dinners to bring home.

[barbtries]

184. most of them are people who don't believe it could possibly result in death.

clearly here on DU we have a lot of people paying attention, believing in science, and actually caring for their loved ones and each other.
my niece is either in huge denial or propagandized by the right into thinking us libtards are making it all up.

[cally]

113. Meeting outside on Sunday

for a short meal with two adult daughters. Wear masks unless eating. We decided to buy sides at local grocery and I will plate everything at home to bring so no shared dishes or utensils. We will sit 6 feet apart and at least see each other. I hope this is safe enough but I'm a little concerned. Have meal at home on Thanksgiving with my husband and I. One of my daughter has to work on Thanksgiving.

Don't know about Christmas. Trying to watch Covid rates and learn from Thanksgiving.

[DFW]

119. Don't know yet

Our Frankfurt-based daughter might drive up from Königstein with her S.O and their two little daughters. Our neighbors might come. Everyone (except me) has been working from home lately, and even I have only been out of the country (i.e. Germany) once in ten days. But no one has made concrete plans, yet. We usually have 20 to 22 people here, but this year it will be somewhere between 2 and 8 (including the two baby girls).

Our annual New Year's trip to South Carolina is out, as are Dallas, New York City and Washington. I was going to be there in Washington in January for the swearing in of two friends to the U.S. Senate, but even that seems to be out (REAL bummer, but THAT is already a solid rain check).

[barbtries]

129. hopefully your friends's swearing in

will be live streamed. that would have been so exciting.

during this whole pandemic i have wanted to go to DC. especially during the BLM protests, but since the election as well. apparently my will to live is stronger than my will to march. if trump upsets the election result, story changes.

[DFW]

165. I think it is too late to change the outcome

I think this is all a grudge move to make the transition as bumpy as possible out of pure spite. He can mess some things up, but this will probably be the most experienced team of "new" players since Bush I transitioned in from Reagan. All Trump's hostile moves can't negate the decades of experience being brought in by the Biden team.

I have been to Senate swearing in parties before. I was with both Mazie Hirono and Claire McCaskill on Jan. 3 2013. They are really cool events with both insignificant unknowns like me and plenty of "knowns" like half the US Senate drifiting in and out. I will miss being there for Mark and John, but we already have plans for a make-up get-together in DC when the corona situation dies down. Gabby is probably the most vulnerable of anyone who will be there, and no one wants to put her in any peril.

[LAS14]

120. Home with hubby. Will Zoom dinner with his brother. As for Christmas,...

... my daughter and her two girls might get tested 6 or 7 days after the little one's last day of school (older one is still remote) and come to see us. Since we meet the technical definition of quarantining anyway, I don't think we'll get tested.

[barbtries]

123. i have had 2 visitors from the west coast since the pandemic began.

one was a friend who drove and visited briefly on one day. the other was my grandson, who flew from WA and stayed with us for 4 or 5 days. i was most worried about him. in fact my first time in the car after 4 months or so was to take him to the airport. Both worked out thankfully.

otherwise, my only human contact is my two sons and the gf of one of them. lots of video chatting helps keep me sane.

[WestLosAngelesGal]

122. Outdoor celebration with family

We're going to eat outside at banquet tables set far apart with only a few people at each table, sitting far apart.

Thanksgiving hours are staggered with some people coming earlier and some coming later.

The buffet line will be indoors with all disposable pans, utensils, plates, etc.

No hugging, and no board games this year. Maybe horseshoe tournament with handwashing station.

No random people.

[barbtries]

124. West LA eh?

my son and his family live in el segundo. i grew up in torrance.
i'm so homesick. been in NC for 13 years but CA is still home.

you have a good plan but I would still be nervous - you'll actually be in the company of more people on that day than i have been for the better part of a year. Have a safe and delicious holiday.

[sarcasmo]

125. Staying home. My niece is having 13 people over here house, beyond insanity.

[barbtries]

127. wow.

do we have the same niece? I expect my niece's crowd will exceed 13 people. I wish my sister wouldn't go she'll be at great risk. but she will. she knows it's not safe but there's no talking sense with my niece about the pandemic. And of course she WANTS to be with her grandchildren and great grandchildren. it's tainted though. sigh.

[totodeinhere]

144. "Wanting" to be with her children and grandchildren is no excuse for taking such as risk.

Younger people can often be asymptomatic carriers as we know. Sometimes in life we just can't have what we want. Wanting something that is going to possibly endanger life is sheer stupidity.

[barbtries]

169. i blame her daughter more than her.

she is suffering from Alzheimers. she recently lost her husband. it's my niece driving this insanity. my sister is still functional but the effects of the disease are showing.
I think there's every reason to believe that in a year my sister will still know her family though there is a fear she could deteriorate faster and faster...it's hard. But i disagree that her decision to join her family is sheer stupidity. i save that label for her daughter.

[sarcasmo]

167. It was 17 then 4 wisely backed out.

[dware]

128. I will most likely be on the road hauling WalMart trailers,

so it looks like a Thanksgiving dinner at a truck stop.

[barbtries]

131. aww

do truck stops serve up a decent feast? I surely hope so. and i really hope walmart pays you double time for holidays.

[dware]

137. Depends on the truck stop,

T/A's usually serve a pretty good Thanksgiving meal and they usually give truckers a free meal or at a greatly reduced price.

WalMart is paying well over the going mileage rate for owner/operators, that's why my agent has contracted my truck to them to exclusively haul their trailers to keep their stores supplied during this pandemic crises.

[barbtries]

143. i imagine

and you can tell me if i'm right, that driving on thanksgiving day is probably one of the best days to be out there, because the traffic will be so light.

i come from Southern CA. One year on christmas, my kids and i got on the 405 to go to my brother's house. The freeway was virtually empty. it was such a joy, I swerved all the way over to the left and all the way over to the right just for the joy of it. just because i could.

as a trucker i imagine you know the normal condition of the 405?

[dware]

149. And you would be correct,

on Thanksgiving Day, the Interstates are practically empty so I can make excellent time, and, yes, I do know about the 405, or, as I like to call it, the 405 parking lot, especially around Mulholland Drive to the I-10 interchange, luckily, I rarely have to travel that section.

[barbtries]

153. i used to write bumperstickers

and still think i should have had this one mass-produced:

I BRAKE FOR THE 405

[dware]

156. I would put that bumpersticker on my truck right under my USDOT number on my sleeper.

It describes the 405 perfectly, especially during rush hour.

[Bettie]

130. DH and I and our kids

all home together.

No one else.

[barbtries]

132. i think of our plans

as not a lot different. it's been less than a year since my youngest son moved in with his girlfriend so they pretty much are a part of our household.

[Bettie]

135. My big ones are done with their first semester of college on the day

before Thanksgiving.

So, they will be home then.

So far, they've been extremely cautious at college.

[barbtries]

138. no time for quarantine

before they come home. can they be tested first?

[Danmel]

139. I live with my husband and our son

We all work full time outside the house, although from March through Labor Day, I was able to work almost exclusively from home. My husband works with 80 other people, mostly wingnuts who think the election was stolen.
Our son works in a restaurant.
Our daughter was married a few weeks ago in our backyard with only the bride and groom, us, his parents and the bride and groom's siblings and their spouses. There were 12 of us all total. She is going to her new brother in law. They will have 8 people.

We will just be the three of us.

[barbtries]

145. that's dicey

especially for your husband and your son. So glad you've escaped the virus so far.
i think you're doing the right thing for thanksgiving although your daily lives are like mine fields.

[Danmel]

158. They are

We are diligent about mask wearing, shower, when we get home,.don't done out. Unfortunately my husband's job involves a security clearance and air gapped computers and things that can't be done remotely but are considered essential.

[Danmel]

159. They are

We are diligent about mask wearing, shower, when we get home,.don't done out. Unfortunately my husband's job involves a security clearance and air gapped computers and things that can't be done remotely but are considered essential.

[brooklynite]

141. Mother will come down for early dinner with the two of us...

...afterwards, we may go for a socially distanced visit with a friend.

[totodeinhere]

142. Because of our age and underlying conditions, my wife and I will have Thanksgiving dinner alone

at home. We don't want to take the chance of having any family members over. Hopefully we will be vaccinated by Thanksgiving 2021 and we will be able to have guests then. Yes we will miss seeing our children and grandchildren but it's just not worth the risk. Of course I understand that it will be harder on those living alone to have to spend Thanksgiving alone and I feel for people in that situation. At least my wife and I have each other.

[barbtries]

152. true.

there are some singletons who have responded to this thread and they seem mostly to be okay with it. Back in the day when I was first divorced I only had my kids every other year and can recall some pretty lonely thanksgivings, but i got through them, sometimes with friends, sometimes on my own.

[Politicub]

147. Plans are still in flux, but the original plan

was to invite over my parents and a friend. Our friend has been part of my and my husband’s pod for months now.

My parents live about two hours away, and I’ve only seen them once this year.

I’m nervous about giving them COVID or vice versa, which is why plans are in flux. Our friend is on dialysis and my parents are in a high-risk age range.

Normally we would gather at my grandmothers house — probably 15 people or so.

If I do plan on canceling having my parents over, I’m going to drive thanksgiving dinner and fixings to them. I’m not cooking this year and catering order has already been taken care of.

I hope it’s warm out, because I will be able to open windows.

[barbtries]

151. depending on where you live,

my unsolicited opinion is that you don't have your parents leave their house. I think you can drop in with the food and spend a few minutes with them. maybe you can dine together virtually over zoom or facetime.

the goal is to be able to have a proper celebration next year, with all present and still alive and well. i always remind myself that we are living in an unprecedented moment in history (in living memory). it is proper that we take extraordinary precautions until the risk is down to an acceptable level.

I'm really glad i started this thread because it reminds me, and hopefully others, that we are all experiencing this pandemic together, doing our best. I miss my family so much and i know they miss me, but we are on the same page when it comes to staying alive, staying well. we can and will wait until it's not as risky to be together in the same place.

[Politicub]

164. Changing plans because of this thread.

Everyone is making good points. I’ll deliver food and come back the same day. It looks like we’re going to have nice weather, so we can meet outside.

The pandemic is emotionally exhausting, and it’s easy to get lulled into a false sense of security.

[barbtries]

170. that's true.

for most of us it is still a distant bell. by the time it's over, i believe we will all know someone. i know i already do; a co-worker had it. he was sick for 3 weeks and lost 20 pounds.

i know people who lost loved ones and others who know other people who lost loved ones. there's just going to be more and more of this spread. I'm hoping to be one of those who escaped until the vaccine kicked in.

At least you'll be able to cook for them, and to visit for a bit. i think it's the most loving thanksgiving plan out there.

[totodeinhere]

154. I would be very careful with anyone on kidney dialysis.

It might not be worth the risk. Studies have shown very high morbidity among dialysis patients who contract the virus.

[Politicub]

163. Everyone is making good points. Glad for this thread.

I’ve decided to take food to parents on Wednesday and drive back to Atlanta. My husband drives our friend to his procedures and such. He has been tested for COVID before each surgical procedure, and his three tests have come back negative.

Other than that, my husband doesn’t leave the house. The only person who has come inside since COVID began is our friend.

[MerryBlooms]

160. Just me and my 77 y/o sis. I will make us a traditional dinner...

We usually have about 12 for holiday dinners, and I suspect our three cats will be laying in the extra couple of chairs we keep at the table. We'll make them their own little kitty plates of turkey and veggies. Everyone will be fat-n-sassy, and asleep by 4pm.

[barbtries]

171. ah yes,

that post feast nap. the tryptophan drowse.

[blaze]

166. Me and my pooch this year.

For thirty plus years, I've been part of a group for those with no family in town. There are three of us from that original dinner and another two or three that have "only" participated for twenty years or so...
we usually have anywhere from 6 to 12 ppl.

Most of us are in our sixties and several are still working outside the home, so no dinner for us this year.

BUT, I decided to cook up a little cornish hen. I'll tuck its little wings and tie it's little legs. I'll cut up one potato and one carrot and half an onion to act as a rack on the bottom of the little casserole dish. Stovetop stuffing. Something green. It will be a proper T-Day dinner!

[barbtries]

174. sounds good.

during the pandemic, now semi-retired and working from home, i have cooked more and eaten more at home than at any time since my kids were little. Cornish hens are one of the new things I've been making. I find that one whole hen is the perfect size. I stuff it with celery and onion, season well and it is a quick cook or super easy crock pot meal.

i love the way you describe you miniature feast!

[Niagara]

168. About a week ago it was 73 F outside.

The last few days has been 35 F outside. I should have had a small outdoor dinner when it was a lovely 73 F.




I haven't been invited to the tRump supporting in-laws and if I am invited, I will turn down the invitation because it's not worth it. Besides, I'm not in the mood to listen to F-I-L's loud and slanderous triads against my Democratic representatives. It's old and boorish.


Thanksgiving with my blood relatives will have to be rescheduled for a better and much safer date.

[tavernier]

172. We are in the Keys, 80 degrees guaranteed, outdoor dinner,

nine family, no one has been in large groups of unknown ppl. Masks and 6 foot distancing as always. Everyone is encouraged to leave or step away if in any way uncomfortable with their safety. We have done this before and the older folks leave earlier.

[barbtries]

178. i would probably decline,

but if i did show up no doubt it would be an eat and run. I would miss the hugs. I do miss the hugs.

[tavernier]

180. Not to be rude but we don't know you

and your habits of public exposure in our little town. And actually no strangers or non residents. And even family... distance is still observed. We do allow air kisses.
Sorry. But we’ll save you a seat next year.

[barbtries]

183. well, I think you said you're in FL

so i must gratefully decline

[tavernier]

188. Florida Keys.

Different animal.

That’s ok though. We understand. Not everyone is a tropical island fan. It’s a rare blood disease.

[barbtries]

189. i would love it.

it's the hurricanes.

[a kennedy]

173. Well, my husband and I just bought a thanksgiving dinner for four from our Co-op......

It’s only going to be the two of us....and we had to buy for at least 4 so.....we’ll take ours and a tad more, and give the rest to our neighbor that really needs it. HAPPY THANKSGIVING. 🦃 🦃 🦃

[barbtries]

175. Happy Thanksgiving!

healthy thanksgiving, lonely but coping thanksgiving, something to be really thankful for too (Biden Won!)

[Turin_C3PO]

176. I live with my parents

and we’re going to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with just the three of us.

[barbtries]

179. enjoy.

that's essentially what we're doing, except that 2 of us live in the next town over. We're zooming with the rest of the family, it's all scheduled and planned.

[H2O Man]

181. Interesting.

Good topic. Thank you for posting this. Great responses here.

Recommended.

I expect to be here with my two sons. My daughter in Boston is staying put, due to the virus. My younger daughter and her boyfriend will probably stop in, though I'm not sure. All four love the holidays, and wish we could hang out with multiple generations of the extended family, as we do in most years. All four of them are a blast to hang out with.

Holidays do not mean anything to me, really, beyond studying the night sky, and tracing the sun's path in the day. But I always love seeing my children. So Thanksgiving will be a slow, easy day for me -- my boys like preparing the big meal. And I've checked in on DU every Thanksiving since 2004, something I'll continue to do.

[barbtries]

182. I like preparing the big meal too.

I only do it once a year at most.
Have a great day H2O Man

[bullwinkle428]

185. Normally spend it with my Mom of 83 years, but I'll be alone this year. We both decided that

it wasn't worth the risk. I'm in Iowa, and will drive around 700 miles, often 3 times per year, to spend time with her, but the Covid spread is perhaps worse in the upper Midwest than anyplace else in the country, not that it's any picnic anywhere! She's in great health, and I don't want to do a single thing that could potentially put that in jeopardy.

I'll be spending it with a very spoiled cat, and plan to make a turkey pumpkin lasagna - it's been years since I made that, and it's a fantastic dish for the holidays. Plenty of leftovers, so I can enjoy the additional portions in the days and weeks to come!

[barbtries]

186. i have never heard of that dish.

and it really tastes good? maybe you can post the recipe. if i don't have to use a whole pumpkin, maybe i'll try it. does it use leftover turkey or does it have to be raw?

i'm totally intrigued by this dish. turkey pumpkin lasagna, huh!

[lucca18]

187. Home

We were invited to a relative’s home for Thanksgiving but declined, as he just returned from Florida to California.

He is a trump supporter, and probably didn’t wear a mask when he was in Florida.
The last thing I want to hear is the word “trump” on Thanksgiving!

[barbtries]

190. or ever again after January.

except to read news about the consequences raining down on him for all of his bad acts.

[mainer]

191. We are so conflicted and trying to stay safe but...

We have been isolating for months. Our son’s family of 4 has been isolating as well. Our grandkids wanted so badly to see us so we took covid tests (negative) and drove 9 hours straight to his city (both low-risk counties), then took another covid test. We’re having Thanksgiving together. We know we shouldn’t but we’ve done what we could to mitigate risks.

And I feel guilty, but the grandkids pleaded to see us.

I completely understand how torn families are feeling right now. And we succumbed.

[barbtries]

193. aw

I'll see my grandkids on zoom. My oldest grandson flew out from WA to visit and not only was i crazy to see him, but I did not have the heart to tell him not to come. it was totally his idea. We did not get sick, we're fine. hopefully you will be too!

[totodeinhere]

197. Testing negative yourself will not stop you from contacting the virus at any time.

If I were you I would tell my grandchildren that it's too risky to see them right now. They may not like but that's just too bad. You want to protect yourself from an often fatal illness. It's not going to do your grandkids any good if you die.

[mainer]

205. Yeah, um, we got here 13 days ago.

So it’s now a fait accompli. Everyone’s healthy, I’m getting slobbered on by grandkids, and we’re going home in 2 weeks. Where we’ll be isolating until the vaccine.

To my surprise, testing has been easy. In and out, no more than a 10 minute wait. My whole family is paranoid about the virus, no one’s been out of the house,so maybe ours is a unique situation.

[hunter]

192. My wife is a front line health care worker. She is mostly working with covid patients now.

She puts on her Personal Protective Equipment when she gets to work, and wears it until it is tattered because supplies are still unreliable.

In spite of precautions a few of my wife's coworkers have caught the virus. One of her older colleagues unexpectedly retired, deciding it wasn't worth the risk coming to work every day. She was done.

One of my brothers got this virus bad. In ordinary times he might have been hospitalized but the hospitals were full of covid patients worse off than he was. One of my in-laws was hospitalized for nine days with this virus. Neither has fully recovered after many weeks.

We usually have Thanksgiving with family, huge gatherings across the the entire long weekend, but my wife and I can't in good conscience risk infecting our elderly parents and other high-risk relatives.

Thanksgiving is my own favorite holiday to cook for, I can do the full range from here-I-killed-this carnivore to vegan. Unlike Christmas or Easter it's a holiday without much religious strife. When I was a child, Christmas and Easter were times of intense religious warfare and not something to look forward to.

[barbtries]

194. i hope you do the cooking anyway

on a smaller scale, freeze the leftovers for later on, enjoy as well as you can.

I hope your wife continues to stay well. The healthcare workers are saints. we call them heroes but i think saint is appropriate. It's an absolute travesty that she cannot rely on a constant supply of effective PPE under these circumstances.

[Texasgal]

195. I'm a surgical nurse

but I do not work in a covid situation. All of our patients are vetted prior to surgery.

I plan on making a small meal for my folks whom are elderly. None of my siblings will be around as we all agreed that this should be very small.

[barbtries]

196. that's a good plan.

have a great respite.

[Raftergirl]

198. Doing a Zoom thanksgiving

H and I will be at our house, son and gf will be at their house and my 91 yr old mom will be at her house. She will Zoom between my sister and bil house and her daughter’s homes.

We did a 50 person Zoom Passover Seder but that’s easier with a lot of people because of the service part of the dinner.

[barbtries]

199. Happy Thanksgiving!

we'll have people from at least 6 houses and 3 states on the ZOOM call. it's not the same but at the same time it makes me happy.

[electric_blue68]

200. Dinner for 1... But what kind of dinner depends on...

... how safe I feel going to a semi specialized supermarket outside my nabe, or just a block away to the regular one.

Since cv19 is even rising in NYC again 😧😠

If regular - a Triple decker w good white bread, mayo, touch of garlic & onion powders, pepper, Swiss cheese, and hopefully one of the extra tasty (but not spicy) Board Head Turkey.
Maaaaybe heat store bought stuffing, or make from a box. Or instant mash potatoes.

If I go elsewhere (Traders, or NYC Westside Market) WSM they should have whole roasted turkey breast that I can get enough for 2 sandwiches (one for next day). Or w maybe separate gravy and I can heat up both on TG.
I know WSM will also have hot mashies. They make fantastic roast carrots! I could get roasted sweat potatoes, too. And hopefully full done STUFFING! 😂🤪🤩🤩😍 Bread stuffing w celery, onions, sage and what else they usually put in there. I'm crazed for that! Like 3 helping if I can get - ever since my taste buds evolved to learn to love sage in certain things in my ?30's.

Traders would be more like some kind of sides. I think you have to cook everything even if part of a Turkey, no reheating stuff - but I'll check their site. Oh, yes their fried onions in the can!

Since I'm blessed enough to rarely have RW dust ups on my FB page from friends or family I'll be checking in there, and on the phone.

Rinse, and repeat for Christmas! Only hopefully this year I have waaay 🥰 more color, glittery, decorations! I buy, and sometimes make my own, too.

[barbtries]

201. ah, decisions, decisions!

can you not order any of what you crave for delivery? then you know, you can have whatever you want.

having said that, i do a lot of online shopping on Amazon Fresh, and recommend you hurry. Fortunately my son works in a grocery so we were able to get cranberry sauce and stuffing mix. we have everything but a few more pounds of potatoes and the bird.

I'm sure I'll be on fb between times and twitter too. plus our zoom call - best part of the day perhaps.

[electric_blue68]

207. I'm not in either store's delivery range...

it's not too big a deal. I'll enjoy whatever I get.

Rarely do on line or Amazon shopping.


Your zoom call sounds fun.
Hmm... I'll have to see if anyone is thinking about this for Christmas.

[LanternWaste]

202. My SO and I have politely declined all invitations and are staying in.

I was furloughed only for ten weeks much earlier this year, and she works IT at a local hospital and hasn't had more than one day off in any given week in almost six months, so we're both looking forward to five uninterrupted days of simply eating, napping, reading and movie-binging.

We both have family disappointed in our choice, but the disappointment is their choice.

[barbtries]

203. yes.

you're doing the right thing. I wish my niece would get her head out her ass and call it off and have no hope at all that she will. we'll see if any of her children choose to stay home. there are 7 very young children and at least 9 adults.

[csziggy]

204. I'll be making dinner for my husband and myself

We have not been able to isolate most of the year since we started an addition just before Covid got going really good. And this week we had to make a fast run downstate to take the last load of stuff I'm getting out of my mother's house - she died in 2018 and my sister's been doing most of the clearing out. We were pretty safe on the trip - bought dinner and breakfasts for in the hotel room. Ate a take out lunch with my sister and her husband. That is the most exposure, close up to people, I have had all year.

The family T-Day and Christmas have been cancelled since no one wanted to risk exposure, not even the right wing branch of the family. So I will cook my style T-Day dinner and have lots of turkey leftovers for my husband and I to have during the coming year. For Christmas I will buy a ham and have lots of leftovers of ham to enjoy.

I'll save the ham bone to make Hoppin' John for New Years Day - and this year I hope it brings a LOT of luck. I didn't make it last year and see what happened.

Some years I do that even if we're going to relatives' houses, but this year it will be a great time for us to have a formal meal in our new dining room!

[barbtries]

206. sounds special.

and please: what is Hoppin' John??

[csziggy]

208. Hoppin' John is a Southern tradition

Usually black eyed peas with rice and some ham or hog jowls - think thick bacon, but cut from the hog's cheeks. The claim is that if you have it for New Year's it gives good luck for the year.

Last time I made it I used pigeon peas, small red peas, rather than black eyed peas. They were very good, but I'm not sure if they were better than black eyed peas or just different.

Here is a very good article about the history with a good recipe for Hoppin' John: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/hoppin-john-104452

[mtnsnake]

209. My wife and I will probably go for a hike and then have Thanksgiving dinner when we get back

There's a good chance our kids will meet up with us, too. There's nothing like getting away from it all. Plus, the family that hikes together stays together! Nice thread, barb!

[barbtries]

213. sounds like what my brother and his wife might do.

stay safe, have a happy thanksgiving!

[mtnsnake]

216. thanks

and the same to you, too!

[Baltimike]

210. one of my bf's lioves alone, so I might invite him over. I am leaving treats on my mother's porch

she only lives 5 mins away, so we are together...apart.

I think everyone is going to make this exception because so many people love this holiday more than any other.

I am making the rounds and running the errands that I can now because I honestly think Thanksgiving is going to be a super spreader event

[barbtries]

214. there's really no doubt.

i have truly grave fears about my sister and the crowd she'll be with.

[Meowmee]

212. Just at home

With my immediate family and kitties as usual. I would never take a risk to do anything else, staying alive is more important than any holiday/ party etc. I have always thought holidays are overrated anyway except for having the time off etc. I like the decorations etc. but I keep mine up all year anyway most of the time for years 😹