How Are You Celebrating Thanksgiving This Year? We're Staying Home
by Garrett
Thanksgiving has become one of my top favorite holidays. Gathering family and friends over a slow cooked feast to celebrate our relationships and to recognize and appreciate the love, joy and yes, sometimes frustrations! these special people bring to our lives. No gifts or costumes or candy (usually a fall cake though!). Just my kind of low-key holiday focused on good food, drinks and friends.
all photos from our Thanksgiving 2018 celebration in Portland at Cathy’s twin sister’s house
This year it will be different though. We had planned to go down to Portland to visit family (Cathy’s twin sister and brother live down there with their familys) but with coronavirus cases surging across the country we've decided to stay home. We’ll trade in-person hugs for video chat waves this time around. I’m optimistic Thanksgiving will be back to full form next year! We just have to hang on until there’s a vaccine and early promising data suggest we’ll have a highly effective one soon with the first doses possibly going out by year’s end!!! If we can prevent cases now we’ll save lives until widespread vaccination is a reality. We just have to keep the course a bit longer!
So what does this mean for Thanksgiving? For us it means continuing our social isolation (we’ve interacted with friends a grand total of 5 times, all outdoors, since March). Staying away from people right now, is the surest way not to spread coronavirus. But some folks will be getting together and we wanted to share a few resources if you are.
CDC Thanksgiving recommendations here
I’ve also put a few suggestions below that may help lower the chances that coronavirus is on the menu at your Thanksgiving feast. My doctoral dissertation topic was influenza (I have a PhD in Biochemistry and studied infectious diseases during my career) so I’m at least semi-qualified to offer my thoughts here and they are meant to be in addition to the guidance outlined by the CDC, Dr. Fauci, and local health officials. Do follow all directives from your state and local authorities!
There’s a light hearted bent to these tips but this is not meant to diminish the seriousness of the pandemic nor disrespect those who’ve suffered or lost loved ones from infection by SARS-CoV-2. Covid-19 is deadly serious and has lead to millions of fatalities around the globe. We take this pandemic very seriously at our home and encourage you to too. And though this isn’t listed as a tip, it should go without saying that if you experience symptoms such as fever or learn that you’ve been in contact with a Covid positive person just stay home (or cancel if you’re a host!).
Let’s dive in!
(psst: do you recognize that brunette in the back? Cathy has since let her gray hair grow in but her sis still dyes her grays)
Tip 1: Limit the size of your gathering.
We typically take a “more the merrier” approach to our BBQ’s, holidays and birthdays but for this holiday season it’s the fewer the safer. And if you’re on the fence about inviting the Washulskis or Aunt Dina and Uncle Bob, just save the joy of their presence for next year. You should also check your county’s coronavirus guidelines to gatherings as they likely already have a max number of people allowed around your table.
Tip 2: Limit the time of your gathering.
Does your Thanksgiving usually go into the wee hours? We don’t tend to go too late these days (kids and stuff you know…it has nothing to do with the fact we’re pushing 40…) but folks do typically show up to our house before noon! For this go round set a schedule with an arrival time and leaving time. And make sure guests know it’s ok to eat and run, just this once.
Tip 3: Outside is better than inside.
You know how you’ve always wanted to convert the garage into an alfresco dining space. Now is the time to do that project! Or maybe there’s a perfect spot in the side yard for some gravel and a patio heater. It’s ok to burn fossil fuels to stay warm outside for this one year. Set drinks out on the deck and encourage guests to wear warm clothes.
Tip 4: Space it out.
The most impossible task for hosts this year will be to prevent everyone from crowding into the kitchen. But push them out (preferably outside). Best to limit bodies in the food prep areas. Entice folks into other spaces by spreading the hors d'oeuvres and drinks around rather than in one congregate location. Marie Kondo that bonus room and set up corn hole boards in there. Turn the TV on in the den.
Tip 5: Ventilate.
This one riles the energy conservationist in me but it’s simple. Open windows. It will be freezing where some of you will be hosting so maybe just crack the windows.? Increasing the volume of fresh air in our homes will help disperse airborne viral particles so crank the heat, set the ceiling fans to circulate, turn on all of the bathroom fans and run the hood vent over your stove. This might make your meters go brrrrr but it’s only for a few hours on Thursday.
Tip 6: Keep it quieter.
Do you normally put together a rockin Thanksgiving playlist to blast over your sweet wireless Sonos system? I can’t get Cathy to play anything except the Mellow Folk station on ours and I can only listen the Lumineers so many times..🙄. (If you like that kind of thing, you can find Cathy’s Spotify playlists here.) Turn it way down this year so folks don’t have to raise their voices while conversing. The louder we speak, the more aerosols we generate (another reason to hold the invite for those loud talking Washulskis!). And cancel the post turkey karaoke contest.
Tip 7: Mask up.
It’s hard to eat and drink with a mask on but for the times when were not stuffing our faces it’s a good idea. It feels weird to wear a mask over to a friend’s house and as hosts we don’t want to make guests uncomfortable. But this is one of those things like flossing. The more frequently and consistently we do it, the better the outcome. Offer a prize for the best mask, the best mask wearer, the scariest mask and the most festive mask and have some of grandma’s special triple-layer floral print masks by the doors in case a guest forgets to bring their own.
Tip 8: Wash up.
Just reupping the tired and true advice to frequently wash hands. Fill those bottles of hand sanitizer at all of the entry doors. And it won’t hurt to sterilize high contact surfaces like door knobs, and hand rails at regular intervals throughout your gathering. Set your phone to remind you every 20-30mins. Better yet put Uncle Bart on sanitizing patrol!
This whole Covid Thanksgiving will go much smoother by setting expectations in advance. Whether you’re hosting or a guest, communicating beforehand what your plan is will alleviate anxiety and get ahead of awkwardness. Wouldn’t it be nice to know beforehand that cousin Tim is coming but will be wearing a full face respirator? And who, if anyone, plans to stay in your guest bedroom?
If you’ll be celebrating with a much smaller holiday table this Thanksgiving, we’ll be right with you. Hang in there! We wish you all a happy and safe holiday season!
