A first bird

The lights in the church stayed lit all night. That wouldn't have been a problem if it hadn't been for the drums. Finally, at 6 AM, mass ended and the revelers spilled out onto the street, still playing those damn drums. I couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry - it was almost time to get back to defrosting the bird, and I'd slept maybe a couple of hours. I finally opted to laugh after staring out the window at them down below for a while. The church doors opened on a surprisingly unwrinkled and unbowed crowd - heck, I was exhausted just listening to them all night, yet there they were, pleased as could be with themselves, laughing and joking like it was 6 PM and they'd just gotten off work.

The bird was a harsh mistress, but she finally gave up and turned a nice golden brown, and just in time - the crowd assembled was starting to look like mutiny. It was only 2 hours later than advertised, and we had a hungry bunch. We dove into that bird and emerged, silly and content, a few hours and multiple pies later. The feast lasted seven hours and was one of the happier and fuller Easters I've had, although I missed my folks. Only one thing could have made it any better...and it's no use wishing for that, better to be grateful for all I have been given. Come to think of it, the bird wasn't the only thing today that felt like thanksgiving.