Hello. My name is Inigo Monturkey. You defrosted my father. Prepare to dine!
The Princess Broiled
Sometimes the inspiration for what I want to write comes from the strangest of places.
With the flu and COVID-19 jabs from a couple of days ago making their presence known that they messing about with my immune system and having survived poor Nicholas having an extended bout of feeling like the fourth day of a three-day liberty pass, today was really a good day to get some needed administrative tasks out of the way in the morning and then try to chill out and hope for inspiration to come my way.
That’s when YouTube’s algorithm decided to serve up a clip from a rather notorious (if not the most notorious and memorable) episode of the sit-com “WKRP in Cincinnati”.
Anyone who was alive and old enough to be watching television knows exactly what episode of that show I’m referring to: episode 7 of season 1 named “Turkeys Away” which aired 30 Oct 1978.
Les Nessman’s matter-of-fact play-by-play commentary of the horror that was unfolding at the Pinedale Shopping Mall is absolutely unforgettable and flat-out hilarious as is the crew back in the broadcasting booth wanting desperately to cut away from reporting of the poultry carnage but also understandably curious as to how Les was going to survive the most unique aerial bombing mission ever.
As I was recovering from laughing myself almost to the point of death which wasn’t helped by repeating the clip a couple of times, the inspiration I’d been waiting for was pretty much as impactful as the turkey that smashed through a car windshield.
There’s no sugar coating the fact that this year has had it’s challenges in what has seemed like a never ending series of opportunities for negative reinforcement such that one was beginning to wonder if the universe itself had decided to focus it’s frustration on a single point in the space-time continuum.
Pretty much everywhere you would care to look, the news ranged from somewhat alarming to bordering on the criminally insane and one genuinely wonders how the stories of tomorrow would top the insanity of today’s. Then tomorrow comes and well, they just managed to pull it off and now that limbo bar is just that much closer to the ground.
It wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see it go a little bit lower in the morning.
Add to it the propensity for critical appliances and the Traverse to live up to the modern idea of planned obsolescence and break at the most temporally and financially inopportune time and the seemingly never-ending tap dancing trying to make the finances somehow work in spite of Mama and Papa Dollar not really getting it on consistently enough to be suitable and you’ve got all of the ingredients to go stark staring mad.
After spectacularly blowing my right hamstring to hell in a dramatic demonstration of how flexible I’m not and never will be and the resulting weeks of rather dreadful colours making that leg look like the creature from the Black Lagoon on steroids as well as some interesting challenges in projectile physics, I was genuinely wondering if I should just find blessed relief in the welcoming arms of lunacy.
But in spite of all of that, we’ve managed to survive what’s been thrown at us by the universe by a combination of creativity with more than a little sheer ornery cussedness and stubbornness that is the legacy of multiple generations on both sides of the genetic aisle.
And ibuprofen. Plenty of ibuprofen has definitely been a bestie of late!
Let’s just say I learnt survival techniques from the best and leave it at that. 🙂
And wouldn’t you know it, sometimes the universe has a pleasant surprise waiting for you such as the unexpected one this morning that solved more than a few problems that were stressing and vexing me for the time being. There will certainly be more of those problems clamouring for attention at the gates of The Nerdery soon enough but for at least a few hours today, it was rather nice not having to concern myself with them.
But what has often been the most effective technique that’s gotten me through troubling and harrowing times in the past that in some ways were even worse is two-fold: knowing that humour and laughter is often the best remedy to even the darkest of days and knowing that I’m not alone and never have been in a world that has so many people that I love and cherish and could not imagine my life without them in it.
The other thing that keeps me in the fight when every fibre of my being is screaming that it’s time to lay down the sword is that wonderful feeling that comes from being useful to make someone’s day better, even if it’s in what seems to be the most infinitesimal way at the time.
Nothing feels worse to me than the feeling of uselessness and obsolescence so anyone who trusts me with attending to their needs is a gift that I’m thankful for beyond the capacity of words to properly convey, whether it be taxes and accountancy, photographing their cherished memories, or providing entertainment and keeping score during a beer league hockey game or any of the many jobs I’ve done through my years and the ones that are yet to come.
So if you’re reading this, I’m truly grateful to have you in my life even if it’s just from the start of this post to now.
You’re one reason why Thanksgiving has been and always will be my favourite holiday of the year.
The other is that it’s a wonderful time of the year to take stock of the many things one can be thankful for in their life, even if it’s not readily apparent during the crisis du jour.
As long as I have the breath of life, a roof over my head and the bills paid as best as can be, and an occasional bit of food and drink to get me through the day…then all things considered, that’s not doing so badly in this day and age of strife and prices seemingly increasing every day.
Even with all of the challenges that have come my way this year, I’m still standing with my eyes open and my sword at hand ready for the next opponent to come my way and for that I’m grateful.
There are many in this world who have it much harder where merely surviving the day makes my occasional complaints seem banal and mundane at best.
The best form of appreciation is looking out for them when you can and I’d put it to you that my cousin Hannah has forgotten more about the concept of courage in her fight against endometriosis than I could ever hope to know and if you can help her finally get some lasting relief, that’d be one more thing for me to be exceptionally thankful for!
So with that in mind, may you have a wonderful Thankgiving with those you cherish and a safe start to your festive season! 🙂