with Thanksgiving just around the corner i think we should take some time to reflect on the relative term 'full'. in the olden days full meant what we would now describe as satiated. these days full really means 'no more food please' or 'stuffed to the brim' or 'i'm in pain from eating too much'*... something along those lines.
waiter: 'so did you save room for dessert?'
you: 'oh, no thanks...' (bummed out shake of the head) 'i'm full!'
but even with our updated definition of full, Thanksgiving has a way of making the term even more slippery than ever before. first of all, almost everything at Thanksgiving dinner is delicious. i mean, heck! the holiday is all about eating dinner. secondly, you can always manage to eat more mashed potatoes. they are way too good. the 'full' light simply does not ding on. finally, Thanksgiving is as much about pie as it is about turkey and stuffing and when are you ever too full for pie? in fifth grade we would sing this song that went,'too full, too full for broccoli. but i still have room for some pie.' see, even kids songs understand this complex contradiction between gut and mind.
then why am i feeling a bit glum? well eating for two isn't what it seems. you get full (see second definition above) much quicker than normal and to add insult to injury - or maybe it's the other way around in this case - being full is really uncomfortable... more so than with a regular, non-inhabited belly. and it lasts.
so this year my Thanksgiving mindset will have to be different. i'm going to have to cut out the dishes that don't have a five-star rating. i'm going to have to use a small plate (so i can still go back for seconds). and i'm going to have to let full be full.
*my friend's dad once sprained his stomach from too much food. that's right, sprained... doctor's diagnosis.
8 comments:
I agree. The 'full' light doesn't seem to ding on Thanksgiving for me either. I mean I've waited all year for this dinner, my stomach's not going to tell you when to stop now. Saying you are full on Thanksgiving is like a kid on Christmas saying "no more presents, I've got enough already."
I feel bad that your Thanksgiving feast has to be lessed this year. That sucks. You'll just have to make up for it on the 2007 feast.
I was devestated last year when Thanksgiving rolled around and I was pregnant with Fritz. I was in the throws of all out morning sickness. Nothing sounded good. The same for Christmas. This year I'll make up for it, don't you worry. And next year, like Gatsby said, you can, too.
Cam Kelly once said something that I will never forget--mostly because we repeat it every Thanksgiving (whether he's there or not):
Pie is wedge-shaped so you can wedge it in when you think you're too full. (Or something like that....)
To add to the whole pregnancy eating situation, the heart burn is insult to injury! Always hungry, but fills up fast to be hungry again and then have heart burn.
Oi, the heartburn. Luckily I've only been getting that with super greasy foods (so I avoid them like the plague).
I am so excited for Thanksgiving that I am already salivating. I might have to adopt your philosophy Kel and go for all 5-star ratings.
it was the trifle that sprained dad's stomach, so just steer clear of that and you should be just fine.
This is when you need an extra stomach. You know, you remove the first one when it's full (to be kept in your desk at work in case you forget your lunch) and just replace it with a fresh, empty stomach.
Researchers are hard at work on this.
Full! Full is good. We should all be full of good... continually.
Thanks to Thanksgiving for helping us be full.
I used to sing that "too full for broccoli" song too, and stumbled across your blog as I search the internet trying to discover its provenance.
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