The Phil Files

I awoke about 6:20 this Black Friday morning, not to get up early and go shopping or even bow hunting, but I was awakened by the smell of roast beef and garlic. Somewhere around 5:30, Donna had put in a roast we will have for Thanksgiving, Day II. My folks will come over for lunch. No turkey today, we’ll have dead cow and carrots, mashed taters and green beans, and warm apple pie and a scoop of BlueBell Homemade Vanilla ice cream for dessert. In Texas, you can’t have white meat two days in a row, it’s the national law of the state — after all, beef is what is for dinner down in these parts. So cow will be the committed course for lunch and the involved course for dessert.

We celebrated Thanksgiving, Day i, all afternoon yesterday with Donna’s folks — two rounds of food with all the traditional yummies, with cards games and board games in between. Cowboys won — that was good, but boring. Longhorns won — that was great. Colt and Jordan are very involved with the church where I used to preach in Austin for 22 years, so how can you not root for two guys like that.

Today is kinda dreary, with a light sprinkle and a little chill in the air — Gray Friday in my book. Looks like winter will really come. Our trees have more color than usual this year, although the next big norther will blow that all away. But the gray weather suits the day. Rather than join the mayhem at the malls, today will be a restful day before we launch into Christmas decorations and reminiscing about Christmas past tomorrow. Everybody needs a sleepy, slow, dreary Gray Friday to rest up after all the excitement of Thanksgiving. It’s like taking a double-Sabbath to rest and recoup before the big rush to Christmas.

I’m not sure what you have planned for today, or this weekend, but don’t turn off the Thanksgiving spirit quite yet. Extend it with a touch of rest on the edges and invite God in to calm your spirit and restore your soul with a little slow drip of rain from the roof top and a good nap to chase away the blues on this Gray Friday.