First of all, can I just say that the best part of Thanksgiving is the time spent with family. We had a smallish gathering this year, just Willie's parents, sister, aunt and two cousins. However, you would be totally shocked by how much noise a group this small can make!
And,those of you who are SSD will appreciate how overwhelming it is when lots of people are talking, all at full volume! At some point during dinner, I think my brain just gave up on trying to decipher what people were saying and all I heard was a cluster of unrelated words and a general roar of noise. It was my brain's little way of saying FU to me! The brain always trumps the body.
Anyway, in spite of much noise, it was a good day - made even better by the fresh Canolis that Aunt Rosie brought from Queens! Even after gorging on turkey and the trimmings, we fell on the canollis like a pack of starving wolves. Oh, and I should also mention that Cousin Peter brought a huge tray of anti-paste which was very well received. Actually, as I think about it, the turkey was kind of an afterthought.
We cracked open two bottles of wine - a bottle from my recent batch (malbec/cabernet/syrah) and a bottle of Willamette Pinot (sheer heaven on the tongue). Willie's dad took one taste of the Pinot and pronounced it "table wine". He wasn't impressed. He did, however, love the rather more rustic malbec blend. Which left the pinot completely in the hands (and mouths) of Willie and I. Everyone was happy.
When the evening was winding down, I retreated upstairs to my "cone of silence". Once everyone was loaded into their cars and safely on the road, Willie joined me int the "cone". We sat in total silence for at least an hour - pretty funny when you think about it!
I hope that all of you in the USA had an equally wonderful Thanksgiving - and those of you in the other parts of the world - well, I hope you at least had a good bottle of wine!
Salute!
LOL Table Wine. Ya, that's what my parents would have said about something like a nice Pinot from OR. Tse, rustic Italians and their taste for 'rougher' vintages. Simple Chianti would have impressed them more. What's your own wine like? And what were the antipasti? Forget the turkey which although delicious I am sure, was only the second fiddle to the rest of the meal.
ReplyDeleteNoise. Any small group, even four people talking together, always sound like there's a J Cage concert with voices going on. I can just imagine why one would have hidden in a cone of silence! And my brain, like yours, always, ALWAYS tells me when it had enough and is about to switch off. It just hits the wall of sound and all becomes a blur. Actually, it's sort of interesting to listen to it at the same time, it's incomprehensible, it's funny! :)
Off to visit some people, cone is ready upstairs waiting for my return!
You are so right - a simple earthy Chianti would have been well received. My wine has some of the characteristics of Chianti - in that it kind of grabs you by the throat (in a good way) and is very dry in the mouth. We only put about 10% syrah in the blend - probably could have gone a tiny bit more, but it is still a quaffable wine.
ReplyDeleteAh, the anti pasti ... lots of cured meats (salami, pepperoni, other hard sausages, olives, peppers, marinated atichoke hearts, provolone - very nice especially considering that Cousin Peter picked it up in the wilds of Eastern Pennsylvania!
Funny thing about the brain - at some point it just quits making an attempt to decipher words, doesn't it? And, it IS kind of funny in a warped way! Towards the end, all I could hear were random words - no idea at all what anyone was talking about.
Hope you are having fun tonight- and hoping you don't need too much time in the Cone of Silence!!
Antipasti... Isn't that Amish country, Eastern Pennsylvania? Hmmm... That wine of yours sound good. Amazing you guys have the chance to go and make your own wine. No such luck here, not even beer. Not enough imagination in their thinking here. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteThe only way for people to understand our brains vs. noise is to make a recording at a party, and play it back, at full volume. Amazing. I find it funny, like some demented experimental sound recordist having fun. It all becomes totally abstract. Just before it reaches the pain threshold, I usually enjoy listening to it all. Makes me laugh, which of course is rather odd at a dinner table or party. :) The best part? Inevitably after a few minutes of grinning and no input from me in the 'conversation', somebody is always bound to ask em a direct question, which always, always ends up with me saying something intelligent like, uhu? What? I have no idea what you were all talking about, lost you (insert number) minutes ago. Never mind, just ignore me. lol
All I can say is that our Thanksgiving with 29 was pretty crazy, but on the NOISE SCALE...the Slumber Party that we had here Saturday before Turkey Day was INSANE!! 9 basketball girls - I am learning, there is a definite difference between "girlies" that like fingernail polish and movies and COMPETITIVE ATHLETES. I wish that I could've recorded the noise level...even I was a bit disturbed by it! :o) I think everyone had a good time, though, and as far as I know, nothing was broken!!
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