This year’s family Thanksgiving has been nixed. We’ll probably do something with our neighbors – our kids play together regularly, so we’re effectively already in a slightly larger (but still <10 people) bubble anyway.
It does mean we could do our own turkey for the first time though… And just today the following popped up in my news feed! “It’s like picking your own blueberries, just a lot more violent.”
I’ve cleaned plenty of chickens and some turkeys. Turkeys are a ‘never do again’. Not a fun time.
I read the article. I disagree with it. There’s nothing redeeming about slaughtering your own turkey.
In past years, my extended family has done a “fall get-together” in lieu of actual Thanksgiving, due to work and social schedules, and the hassles of having some older family members travel in turkey day crowds.
That event has been postponed, probably canceled, this year, partly due to COVID (I was symptomatic during the target weekend, and my cousin, who works at a hospital, was also quarantined due to exposure / waiting for test results), and partly due to new health concerns of a few family members, impacting travel plans. (E.g. I developed some heart issues, and side effects of new medication make it difficult to consider traveling multiple hours…)
The looming unknown, and a source of family drama, are Christmas plans. Mrs. Sidekick and I have plane tickets, etc. we set up a couple of months ago “just in case / prices were good and we can cancel or change”. We’ll decide in about a month, but at this point I suspect we’ll be having a quiet Yule at home.
Ugh, listening to people talk about their dreams is so annoying.
I once had a job where I killed mice for science. I hated the killing part. I’d just as soon pay someone else to kill my turkey, thanks. The cleaning probably isn’t any fun, either.
Anywho, back to Thanksgiving talk …
If you know people who are regardless meeting up with “too many” people, provide them with the info, and stay the hell away from them for two weeks.
Thanksgiving will be only our immediate household, just like every other COVID day.
I’ll probably post this in COVID forum as well, but:
How likely is it one of those 10 people is infected? That depends on where you are. Some states are estimated to have as much as an 80 percent chance of having someone with COVID-19 attend a 10-person gathering. But even if there’s a far lower chance at your individual dinner, the risk to the community of a bunch of dinners quickly becomes clear.
That’s an awkward and uncomfortable article with all the diagrams. Makes me want to close and lock the door.
Yeah, the diagrams did not make it any easier to understand. Could have done without them.
I accidentally shamed people today when talking about holiday plans at the start of a conference call today because I said we aren’t going anywhere because we don’t want to contribute to more spread, and mentioned how tired our nurse family members are. No one else shared their plans after that. Hopefully they will stay home.
They won’t. If plans have been made there isn’t much short of a positive COVID test that will change them.
Maybe a positive test in someone they’ve been in close proximity with would be enough. Not much less than that though.
You are probably right, but hope springs eternal.
we have modified our plans from staying over my parents house on thanksgiving, to not staying overnight and instead taking an uber there and back the same day.
i doubt i’m much of a risk to anyone. my only interaction with other people is at physical therapy. I mean, I guess I can catch it there, but we all wear masks and the physical therapist wears a KN95. my sister isn’t quite as careful, but she’s planning to get a rapid test before going.
and our plan now includes hiring my trumpkin uncle’s neighbor who is an uber drive to drive us back and forth. it’s costing $300 plus tolls round trip. if i wind up with COVID from the uber driver at this price to avoid it, i’m gonna be so pissed. we will all wear masks though, so probably relatively low risk. might also open the windows in the car.
We’re planning to get rapid Covid tests this week and have Thanksgiving with my in-laws. My husband is feeling like this could be the last Thanksgiving with one or the other or both of them. If somehow I have Covid and he doesn’t then he will probably go without me. This possibility seems unlikely though.
Sister-in-law is the opposite of careful though. She has mental health issues and doesn’t understand why masks are important. So if anything she will probably give it to my in-laws (who she lives with) and possibly us. We will also get rapid tested when we get home.
I’m struggling with what makes sense given the likelihood that my in-laws may not be with us much longer. Is it worth risking us getting Covid from them? How does one weigh that?
How are you planning on getting rapid tests? I’d expect that to be the plan for many people, and a long line Wednesday/Thursday for any place that has them, and a low likelihood that there will be enough tests to actually get one.
I looked into getting a rapid test a couple of weeks ago and they seem to be in short supply around here. It looked like they were mostly being saved for medical workers and such.
That may just be my locale - we are seeing a pretty big uptick in cases. I don’t know what their availability is like in other places.