Your pulling my leg...

 ...said the turkey, who was not amused.

I applied my lessons learned over the holiday. First, when offered a free meal, a single man always says yes. Second, I'll credit my deep dive to honor women when I wrote my novel, 26 Women, men should listen more and talk less.

I learned a long time ago that when Michelle Mooney invites me to any meal, I go.  The food will be good, and the conversation at least as good as the food, if not better. So the invitation was subtitled as Thanksgiving dinner for people who didn't have anywhere else to go. Michelle also mentioned they were people she knew from St. Mark's. While I'm not a member of the St. Marks Episcopal church, I knew I would know some of them, if not all of them, because I have been embedded in the congregation over the years through my friendship with Michelle and my affiliation with Common Ground.

Michelle is an ambitious host of gatherings such as this. This celebration allowed her to test her new kitchen at St John's on the Lake, where Michelle has recently moved. 

It didn't seem unusual for her to target people from St. Mark's. She is a deacon at that church and has a long history of service there. In recent years the number of St. Mark's parishioners moving to St John's has grown considerably. At this point, it appears they will be able to take over whole floors of one of the towers.

So, I knew I wouldn't be having dinner with just Michelle. But I wasn't aware I would be the only male guest. (Remember Jeffrey, shut up and listen.) Rosalie, Virginia, Judith, and Judy ambled in with their contributions to the feast. I baked the dinner rolls, which were a tad dry and maybe over-baked. But we are our own worst critics, aren't we?

I struggled to think of anything I contributed to the conversation that was meaningful or stimulating. The thing about being in the company of a group of women is you realize they rarely talk about people who are not present in any way except when they have concern for them. How is that sick person, they all know, doing? What about the woman recently widowed? They complain about their children and brag about their grandchildren, but don't all older people do that?

But it was the intelligent comments on current events that put the gravy on the potatoes for me. The discussions included studied observations and various viewpoints gleaned from the rich lives these women have lived. In contrast, let me say, men seldom have this type of reasoned and rich debate.

It became evident to me that, in many respects, I was easily the dumbest person in the room. On the other hand, these ladies were well educated, had traveled extensively, were readers, and were on top of current events. Seeing that the only recent event I might have been able to discuss was the score of the Chelsea v West Ham soccer match, I sensed there would be little interest in sports and followed my own advice to just listen. 

Remember, I'm Irish. Keeping quiet and letting others talk is not a cultural trait we possess. We are more prone to work from an enhanced embrace of the barely interesting to the embellishment of the truth.

As the day unfolded, it included one of the best meals I ever had sandwiched as it was with the conversation that was elegant and meaningful.