"Turkey Trot" - Commentary by Tony Seton

Turkey Trot

It had been my plan to drive up the coast to Mendocino this Thanksgiving, but the local skies and the distant forecast indicated that it was likely to be more rainy than sunny. I put off the trip when the meteorological menu would be more clement. Instead I roused myself for an early walk down Tennessee Valley.

Yosemite Valley with 3,000 foot sheer granite walls rising from the floor creates a feeling of being in a cathedral; maybe it’s the horizontal gravity, or some such. If Yosemite is a cathedral, Tennessee Valley is a church; more expansive, gentler. The low hills bordering the two-mile zigzag to the ocean are turning emerald green from a couple of early rains.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, in part because it is uniquely American, in part because I was brought up in Massachusetts, some 350 years after the Pilgrims arrived. It’s also special to me because it’s about appreciating what we already have, not what we might want. There are no gifts. There’s no religion. There is no politics or history or commemoration of war.

Walking down the valley is therapy; a time to commune with the powers that be. My feet follow a familiar path; my eyes look without seeing. The conversation with myself, supported by images in my mind’s eye, offers a chance to ask questions and seek direction of whatever it is inside that pilot’s this journey.

Sometimes I feel so far from the main track. The television has been flooded with commercials about huge day-after sales, with doors opening hours before the sun rises. One store was offering wake-up calls -- no, I’m not kidding -- and Kmart was actually open on Thanksgiving Day.

Usually during the week, Tennessee Valley is relatively deserted, but on Thanksgiving, like most weekends, it attracts people who wo-wo-work and myriad rugrats. The children seem to be having a great time, running ahead and back, waiting for their parents to catch up. I used to think that their noisy enthusiasm made it hard to hear the deeper voice from within. This Thanksgiving I realized that it’s the same voice.

And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.