1:38am
About twenty minutes ago ... I was gathered up in my bed clothes. Preparing to fall off into slumber when I heard a very loud clamoring. Metal and heavy objects falling to the ground. Then the sound of my mom, "Katherine! Katherine!". I run out to the kitchen, where I find her on the floor, the hot oven teetering out of the counter seemingly about to fall on her. Turkey upside down on the floor, behind her.
I grab the oven to insure it doesn't fall. Push it back some, it won't go easily back into it's original position, so I don't force it. I just turn my attention to my mother, now that I know the heavy metal object isn't going to crush her. Mom isn't quite ready to be helped up and insists she's fine. So, I turn to the turkey, surely it needs my assistance. Luckily it's wrapped in foil and not laying on the tile floor. Salvageable, if I can figure out how to get the oven to work again.
I help mom up, she's limping ... I'm full of questions but trying not to pester her. My mind goes back, thinking about Thanksgivings past. This is her way, stay up until all hours of the night and get the next days dinner started. She loves to cook the turkey slowly in the oven, overnight. It's her way, it's the way I've always known her to be.
I return to my bed, knowing getting the oven back in place is going to be a monumental task. And one I could really use help with. And since it's after one in the morning and I don't have any friends I can call, much less at this hour. I say a prayer, ask for guidance in getting the oven back in place on my own. Thoughts about my mom and the worries of her independence forefront in my mind.
I come back out to the kitchen, questions flying out of my mouth at the speed of light. "How did this happen?" "Are you sure you're okay?" "Where does it hurt?" So, finally without many details I get the gist that she fell on the oven door. She says she had a cramp in her leg, but my instinct says she lost her balance. I'm not going to accuse her of lying, but I'm skeptical. It is possible a cramp in her leg could have caused her to lose her balance. Anyway, that's how the 425 degree oven came to be perched over her as she sat on the kitchen floor.
Her question, "how do you microwave a turkey?" I'm not laughing. Then confesses, "I don't know what happened".
Thanks to help from above, the oven did not fall and is now back in place. Certainly not my genius that could have maneuvered that hunk of metal back into place. Cooking has now resumed, but I'm as nervous about it as I can be.
The smoke alarm just went off, I can see I won't be sleeping very soundly tonight.
Then again, Thanksgiving is about giving thanks. right? Maybe I should rethink. I am thankful for many things, at the moment ... I'm most thankful that oven didn't come crashing down on my mom. Though, I still haven't figured out how the turkey landed behind her.
5 comments:
The lesson here: it's a little late to be cooking turkey.
This is a dramatic event and I don't mean to make light of it. I'm glad your mom is okay. To be honest, I've only skimmed this one. I'll be back to read the whole thing and post a real Seren comment.
Heading out to Lip Gloss!
I'll be back to read the whole thing and post a real Seren comment.
Heading out to Lip Gloss!
Looking forward to it. : ) Hope you had a blast dancing the night away!
I'm a little sore and stiff. There's something about Kierkegaard's "Repetition" in the whole Lip Gloss thing, but it was fun. Maybe after getting some homework out of the way, I'll compose a blurb about the second visit.
Anyhoo, I read the story closer this time. Now I see why you were up so late the night before Thanksgiving. It's part of your mom's tradition to cook the turkey all through the night. I get that now and it's a pretty cool touch. The smoke alarm late at night has to only add to the drama.
The smells at that house the night before the feast must be another distraction. I couldn't sleep properly with the good odors of food wafting into my dreams.
I imagine you were helping her and then had succumbed to the sandman. Perhaps she had also fallen asleep and came into the kitchen to check on the turkey while groggy.
It's easy to make a wrong step and lose one's balance late at night. It happens to all of us, especially if we're tired or under stress. I wouldn't look into it much further than that. Like you summed up with, at least you were able to salvage the turkey and your mom is okay.
You don’t usually strait out write blogs with original words and after reading this one I wonder why…I guess “It’s A Wonder Kate…” But your description of this scene was vivid and I liked the ending. The mystery phrase, “Though, I still haven't figured out how the turkey landed behind her.” was open-ended and like a Haiku it mobilizes the reader to ponder for the meaning within himself.
You don’t usually strait out write blogs with original words and after reading this one I wonder why…I guess “It’s A Wonder Kate…” But your description of this scene was vivid and I liked the ending. The mystery phrase, “Though, I still haven't figured out how the turkey landed behind her.” was open-ended and like a Haiku it mobilizes the reader to ponder for the meaning within himself.
Thanks Nick, nice compliment! I used to write more when I first started blogging, since photo is my profession I wanted to avoid it here. But then a few months ago I bought a point & shoot digital camera (finally). So I shoot more when I'm not working thus resulting in the blog more visual. No real plan either way, just letting it make it's own way in the blogosphere.
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