Celebrating Festivus with a Turducken

I will occasionally share things about family and friends, particularly when the stories or reflections are such that a wider audience could still enjoy the post. This is just such an occasion.

Last Saturday evening, my wife and I gathered with a group of friends to celebrate festivus. What is festivus you ask? Festivus is a holiday that appeared on an episode of Seinfeld, invented by George’s dad as an alternative to the commercialization of Christmas. Officially it’s supposed to be celebrated on December 23, but if people have Christmas parties at random times during December, our friends who organized the event figured, “why not a festivus party?”

We all particpated in several of the festivus traditions, including

• An aluminum pole in a tree stand, complete with a strand of lights.
• The airing of grievances, whereby all of us (about 20 people in total) gathered in a circle to tell things that grieved or disappointed us during the last year (mine was having to endure the high levels of Christmas cheer and euphoria this time of year).
• Feats of strength, which included leg wrestling, thumb wrestling, slaps, and me voluntarily allowing a cat to attack my arm.

The food that night was also a special part of the occasion. Friends of ours that recently moved away had mailed a turducken to another friend. Just what is a turducken? It’s a turkey, stuffed with a duck, stuff with a chicken, along with stuffing to complete the dish. Its roots are believed to be cajun, and it was quite good.

I’ve also put up pictures for those that are interested. (Sorry, I’ve moved the pictures to a family only album).

So to all my readers (mostly family and friends, but perhaps a few strangers by now), I wish you happy holidays and hope that you’ll enjoy your time with family and friends.