What’s For Dinner?

What’s For Dinner?

Anna Sylvester 12/4/25

Winter descends, or does it? It is a very warm December 24; the

mercury reaches 80 degrees Fahrenheit. This is atypical but it follows the

rest of the previous 365 weird topsy turvy days. Since last Christmas these

oddities occurred: Uncle Bill became Aunt Doris; Aunt Shelia went on a

sabbatical and became a Buddhist; Cousin Jimmy left town and has not

returned, although he does send an occasional postcard. But I digress. Here I am looking at palm trees, not pine trees. Hanging a string of lights on a palm tree is tricky but the clothes pins hold the lights in place. No snow to

cover the lights or Mom asking us to shake the snow off the bushes. No snow

to plow, no leaves to rake, just grass to mow.

When my sister asked me to visit for Christmas, I had no idea it would

be to mow her lawn- in December- it is my first time mowing in December.

She asked the inevitable question, what do you want for dinner today and for

Christmas. I have a turkey and a ham. I hated that question, no matter how I

responded it would be the wrong choice. I told her I would think about it

while hacking her lawn.

The mower was already on ramps. I tackled the blades first and

discovered my butter knife was sharper. My sister had a Ryobi disc grinder

which made it easy to give them a razor edge. Next, I checked the oil and

was amazed the engine had not burned up as the oil pan was as dry as the

desert. I removed the air filter and saw it needed cleaning too. All set, I

turned the key, nothing happened. The proverbial light bulb above my head

turned on. I did a forehead thunk and realized I did not check the gasoline.

Sure enough, four gallons of gas later the motor started.

Geared up with my noise canceling ear buds tuned to my favorite

station and my safety eye wear, a-mowing I went. Left in my own fantasy

world, thinking about turkey or ham and the delights of each, I did not pay

attention to my surroundings. Then, a loud clatter and crash brought me

back to reality.

Of all the things to happen in this upside-down year, I did the

impossible. I mowed down Rudolph. The old mower was still made of thick

steel and I hit poor deer just perfectly to give him whiplash which broke his

neck. Pulling out my phone, I called my sister, “How about Reindeer Roast for

Christmas dinner?”