Thanksgiving at the Cabin

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Speaker 1 Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone

Speaker 1 in which

Speaker 1 nothing much happens.

Speaker 1 You feel good

Speaker 1 and then you fall asleep.

Speaker 1 I'm Catherine Nikolai.

Speaker 1 I write and read all the stories you'll hear on Nothing Much Happens.

Speaker 1 Audio Engineering is by Bob Witterheim.

Speaker 1 We give to a different charity each week. And this week, we are giving to the Trevor Project.

Speaker 1 They work to support and safeguard LGBTQIA Plus young people.

Speaker 1 You can learn more in our show notes.

Speaker 1 Before we dig in tonight, I just want to share something with you.

Speaker 1 I hear from so many folks who are feeling anxious,

Speaker 1 and I want to give you all the tools I can to help.

Speaker 1 We have this show, we have our daytime version,

Speaker 1 and our guided meditation show, all of that linked in our notes.

Speaker 1 And now we've added one more soothing aid to our offerings.

Speaker 1 It's a weighted pillow. designed to rest on your chest, lap, or be hugged close, providing a comforting, grounded sensation to help you relax.

Speaker 1 These pillows provide deep pressure stimulation, and that encourages your body to release natural calming hormones while lowering stress hormones. I use one when I record.

Speaker 1 I have it right now on my lap.

Speaker 1 So if you need extra help these days, I recommend it. And you can order it through the link in our notes.

Speaker 1 Now here's how this works.

Speaker 1 We're going to do a little cognitive reshuffling.

Speaker 1 We need your brain to have some little job to do.

Speaker 1 A small, simple focal point in order for you to fall asleep.

Speaker 1 And that job just amounts to you listening,

Speaker 1 following along with the simple shape of the story and the sound of my voice.

Speaker 1 And this helps you tonight, obviously, but

Speaker 1 also helps in the long term by conditioning a response.

Speaker 1 So have a little patience if you're new here. It will get better with time.

Speaker 1 I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through.

Speaker 1 Our story tonight

Speaker 1 is called Thanksgiving at the Cabin.

Speaker 1 And it's a story about a walk through the woods with friends to start the day.

Speaker 1 It's also about sun on your face, empty branches and squirrels, cranberries and apples,

Speaker 1 the sound of the shower running in the other room.

Speaker 1 And a note written in the steam on the mirror. Family as you find it.

Speaker 1 And the deep feeling of enough.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 Lights out.

Speaker 1 It's time to be done looking at your phone.

Speaker 1 Really.

Speaker 1 Snuggle into your sheets and make yourself as comfortable as you can.

Speaker 1 You have done

Speaker 1 enough for the day.

Speaker 1 Now nothing remains but rest.

Speaker 1 Draw a deep breath

Speaker 1 in through your nose

Speaker 1 and sigh from your mouth.

Speaker 1 Again, fill it up

Speaker 1 and let it go.

Speaker 1 Good.

Speaker 1 Thanksgiving at the cabin

Speaker 1 The deep woods in autumn have a special scent

Speaker 1 a layered aroma that rises up from the ground

Speaker 1 and drifts down on you from above

Speaker 1 of wet earth and dead leaves and moss and pine needles

Speaker 1 and a thousand other things

Speaker 1 there are places in the world

Speaker 1 that seemingly smell like

Speaker 1 nothing

Speaker 1 the overlit aisles of a big box store

Speaker 1 an empty parking lot in January after a big snowfall,

Speaker 1 a clean, vacant house between owners.

Speaker 1 But the woods would never make that list.

Speaker 1 The woods can feel quiet and solitary,

Speaker 1 but the smell alone is a giveaway

Speaker 1 of the activity hidden under the drifts of leaves and layers of bark

Speaker 1 and those scents can feel like company on a long walk down the leaf-strewn paths

Speaker 1 a few days before December

Speaker 1 that is where I was

Speaker 1 our dog a dozen feet in front of me

Speaker 1 happily prancing stopping to sniff

Speaker 1 letting me pass him for a few moments,

Speaker 1 then racing back out in front to lead the way.

Speaker 1 We'd done this same walk a few months earlier,

Speaker 1 when the trees were full of shining green leaves,

Speaker 1 and even when there wasn't a cloud in the sky,

Speaker 1 the woods were dim,

Speaker 1 almost dark.

Speaker 1 A sort of daytime gloaming could be found under the canopy.

Speaker 1 But now,

Speaker 1 after the wind and rain of autumn,

Speaker 1 nearly all the leaves had fallen,

Speaker 1 and the sun shone on us whenever it passed from behind a cloud.

Speaker 1 There was a nice feeling.

Speaker 1 The cool, dim woods, suddenly lit up and slightly warmer.

Speaker 1 It made me stop now and then just to close my eyes

Speaker 1 and let the sun kiss my face.

Speaker 1 We had a big afternoon planned.

Speaker 1 It was Thanksgiving, after all.

Speaker 1 But this was perhaps my favorite part part of the day,

Speaker 1 or

Speaker 1 second favorite, right after the mashed potatoes, which we'd be eating in just a couple of hours.

Speaker 1 We were going to our neighbors to share in their Thanksgiving,

Speaker 1 bringing pies and ourselves and our dog.

Speaker 1 And I was very much looking forward to all of it.

Speaker 1 But this quiet time was special.

Speaker 1 It was when I felt most like myself,

Speaker 1 and when the pure gratitude of the day

Speaker 1 overflowed from my cup

Speaker 1 without even having to try.

Speaker 1 I breathed in deep lungfuls of the forest air.

Speaker 1 Everything my eyes landed on seemed like a small miracle.

Speaker 1 My dog and I were happy and harmonious, and working up a good appetite for the meal to come.

Speaker 1 We passed under a branch where a well-fed squirrel sat.

Speaker 1 Her tail pulled about her like a hoodie as she chewed through a nutshell.

Speaker 1 She tracked us with her eyes, but was wholly unbothered.

Speaker 1 And I thought,

Speaker 1 that'll be me later with the mashed potatoes.

Speaker 1 We turned as the path curved,

Speaker 1 and the cabin came into sight

Speaker 1 at the end of a long open meadow.

Speaker 1 It was an A-frame cabin, just large enough for the three of us,

Speaker 1 and like the woods in autumn, full of good sense.

Speaker 1 Most days it would be just the familiar smell of knotty pine and wood smoke.

Speaker 1 But today there would also be apple and pumpkin pies,

Speaker 1 crisp pastry,

Speaker 1 and vanilla in the air.

Speaker 1 and as I thought of it we picked up our pace.

Speaker 1 Past the house,

Speaker 1 at the far edge of a clear field,

Speaker 1 was a valley.

Speaker 1 We were situated on the side of a mountain

Speaker 1 and looked across to another.

Speaker 1 Even from far away

Speaker 1 I could pick out a few of the houses there,

Speaker 1 see smoke rising from chimneys,

Speaker 1 and I smiled at the idea of all of us

Speaker 1 separated by distance,

Speaker 1 but not by action, as we readied for our feasts.

Speaker 1 The dog ran past me

Speaker 1 and slipped through the doggy door into the cabin.

Speaker 1 I stopped at the edge of our small porch.

Speaker 1 At different times during the years,

Speaker 1 a possum lived under the wooden slats.

Speaker 1 Sometimes months would go by without catching sight of him,

Speaker 1 and then he'd be back,

Speaker 1 or maybe it was his cousin or sister.

Speaker 1 Either way,

Speaker 1 sometimes a little soul resided there,

Speaker 1 and I would leave an apple,

Speaker 1 or the last crackers in the sleeve,

Speaker 1 or some other bit of our supper.

Speaker 1 I'd slipped a few seasonal treats into my pocket on the way out of the cabin this morning,

Speaker 1 and I stopped to arrange them for our possible guest.

Speaker 1 I had a handful of cranberries,

Speaker 1 and I set them out in a circle.

Speaker 1 For eyes, there were two plump dates,

Speaker 1 and for a nose, a long, pale Brazil nut.

Speaker 1 Finally, I peeled a mandarin and laid the segments out out to make a smile.

Speaker 1 It was silly, but it made me feel good and hospitable

Speaker 1 to set out this snack with care and a little whimsy.

Speaker 1 But sometimes your intentions only come across to you.

Speaker 1 Sometimes they're lost in translation,

Speaker 1 and the person or possum you mean to express something to

Speaker 1 doesn't receive the full force of your statement, and that's okay.

Speaker 1 It can be enough that you carry the kindness in your heart.

Speaker 1 Whenever you wish someone well,

Speaker 1 you get the strongest dose of that medicine

Speaker 1 in your own head and heart first.

Speaker 1 So I left my smiley face behind me as I stepped through the cabin door.

Speaker 1 The wind might blow it apart.

Speaker 1 The dog might run out and gobble it up.

Speaker 1 Still, it had been made

Speaker 1 and offered up, and that mattered to me.

Speaker 1 Inside, the scent of the pies baking filled the air,

Speaker 1 and I thought of that trope in old-timey cartoons

Speaker 1 where someone smells a pie and starts floating along,

Speaker 1 toes a few inches above the floor,

Speaker 1 nose first toward the cooling treat.

Speaker 1 That pie class at the bakery had clearly paid off.

Speaker 1 The pies were were set on a rack on the counter,

Speaker 1 and I clasped my hands behind my back

Speaker 1 to keep from breaking off a piece of the flaky crust.

Speaker 1 I could hear the shower going and peeked at my watch.

Speaker 1 It was about time to get ready.

Speaker 1 Well dinner wouldn't be formal at all.

Speaker 1 It was a chance to spiff up a bit.

Speaker 1 I poked my head into the bathroom.

Speaker 1 It was full of steam and the scent of the eucalyptus that I'd hung up the day before by the shower head.

Speaker 1 My sweetheart was deep into shampooing and hadn't spotted me.

Speaker 1 So I sneaked over to the mirror and drew a heart in the condensation.

Speaker 1 Inside, I scrawled our initials.

Speaker 1 We had a way of writing them

Speaker 1 that wove them together,

Speaker 1 and we sometimes left the symbol for each other on notes

Speaker 1 or traced it in the sand at the beach.

Speaker 1 I snuck back out and stepped into the bedroom to page through the sweaters in my closet.

Speaker 1 The dog was stretched out across the foot of our bed,

Speaker 1 and I stopped to lay down with him.

Speaker 1 I snuggled up behind him, and he rolled over to show me his belly.

Speaker 1 His fur smelled of the fresh air

Speaker 1 and layers of scent we'd walked through in the woods.

Speaker 1 I laid my head beside his on the quilt,

Speaker 1 and we listened to the sound of the shower

Speaker 1 and watched the branches shift in the wind outside.

Speaker 1 I didn't know

Speaker 1 what more I could ask for in that moment.

Speaker 1 A perfect Thanksgiving.

Speaker 1 Thanksgiving at the cabin.

Speaker 1 The deep woods in autumn

Speaker 1 have a special scent

Speaker 1 Layered aroma that rises up from the ground

Speaker 1 and drifts down on you from above

Speaker 1 Of wet earth

Speaker 1 and dead leaves

Speaker 1 and moss and pine needles,

Speaker 1 and a thousand other things.

Speaker 1 There are places in the world

Speaker 1 that seemingly smell like nothing.

Speaker 1 The over-lit aisles of a big box store,

Speaker 1 an empty parking lot in January,

Speaker 1 after a big snowfall

Speaker 1 A clean, vacant house between owners

Speaker 1 But the woods would never make that list

Speaker 1 The woods can feel quiet

Speaker 1 and solitary

Speaker 1 But the smell alone is a giveaway

Speaker 1 of the activity hidden under the drifts of leaves

Speaker 1 and layers of bark

Speaker 1 And those scents can feel like company

Speaker 1 On a long walk down the leaf strewn paths

Speaker 1 A few days before December

Speaker 1 That is where I was

Speaker 1 Our dog

Speaker 1 a dozen feet in front of me,

Speaker 1 happily prancing,

Speaker 1 stopping to sniff,

Speaker 1 letting me pass him for a few moments,

Speaker 1 and then racing back out in front to lead the way.

Speaker 1 We'd done this same walk

Speaker 1 a few months earlier,

Speaker 1 when the trees were full of shining green leaves,

Speaker 1 and even when there wasn't a cloud in the sky,

Speaker 1 the woods were dim,

Speaker 1 almost dark,

Speaker 1 a sort of daytime gloaming could be found under the canopy.

Speaker 1 But now,

Speaker 1 after the wind and rain of autumn,

Speaker 1 nearly all the leaves had fallen,

Speaker 1 and the sun shone on us

Speaker 1 whenever it passed from behind a cloud.

Speaker 1 It was a nice feeling.

Speaker 1 The cool, dim woods,

Speaker 1 suddenly lit up and slightly warmer.

Speaker 1 It made me stop now and then

Speaker 1 just to close my eyes

Speaker 1 and let the sun kiss my face.

Speaker 1 We had a big afternoon planned.

Speaker 1 It was Thanksgiving, after all.

Speaker 1 But this was perhaps my favorite part of the day,

Speaker 1 or second favorite,

Speaker 1 right after the mashed potatoes,

Speaker 1 which we'd be eating in just a couple of hours.

Speaker 1 We were going to our neighbors

Speaker 1 to share in their Thanksgiving,

Speaker 1 bringing pies

Speaker 1 and ourselves and our dog,

Speaker 1 and

Speaker 1 I was very much looking forward to all of it.

Speaker 1 But this quiet time

Speaker 1 was special.

Speaker 1 It was when I felt

Speaker 1 most like myself

Speaker 1 and when

Speaker 1 the pure gratitude of the day

Speaker 1 overflowed from my cup

Speaker 1 without even having to try.

Speaker 1 I breathed in deep lungfuls

Speaker 1 of the forest air.

Speaker 1 Everything my eyes landed on

Speaker 1 seemed like a small miracle.

Speaker 1 My dog and I were happy and harmonious

Speaker 1 and working up a good appetite for the meal to come.

Speaker 1 We passed under a branch where a well-fed squirrel sat,

Speaker 1 her tail pulled about her like a hoodie

Speaker 1 as she chewed through a nutshell.

Speaker 1 She tracked us with her eyes,

Speaker 1 but

Speaker 1 was wholly unbothered,

Speaker 1 and I thought

Speaker 1 that'll be me later

Speaker 1 with the mashed potatoes.

Speaker 1 We turned as the path curved,

Speaker 1 and the cabin came into sight

Speaker 1 at the end of a long open meadow.

Speaker 1 It was an A-frame cabin,

Speaker 1 just large enough for the three of us,

Speaker 1 and like the woods in autumn,

Speaker 1 full of good sense.

Speaker 1 Most days it would be just the familiar smell of knotty pine

Speaker 1 and wood smoke.

Speaker 1 But today there would also be apple and pumpkin pies,

Speaker 1 crisp pastry

Speaker 1 and vanilla in the air.

Speaker 1 And as I thought of it,

Speaker 1 we picked up our pace

Speaker 1 past the house,

Speaker 1 at the far edge of a clear field,

Speaker 1 was a valley.

Speaker 1 We were situated on the side of a mountain

Speaker 1 and looked across to another.

Speaker 1 Even from far away,

Speaker 1 I could pick out a few of the houses there,

Speaker 1 see smoke rising from chimneys,

Speaker 1 and I smiled at the idea

Speaker 1 of all of us

Speaker 1 separated by distance,

Speaker 1 but not by action,

Speaker 1 as we readied for our feasts.

Speaker 1 The dog ran past me

Speaker 1 and slipped through the doggy door

Speaker 1 and into the cabin.

Speaker 1 I stopped at the edge of our small porch.

Speaker 1 At different times

Speaker 1 during the years,

Speaker 1 a possum lived under the wooden slats.

Speaker 1 Sometimes months would go by

Speaker 1 without catching sight of him,

Speaker 1 and then he'd be back,

Speaker 1 or maybe it was his cousin

Speaker 1 or sister.

Speaker 1 Either way,

Speaker 1 sometimes a little soul resided there,

Speaker 1 and I would leave an apple

Speaker 1 or the last crackers in the sleeve

Speaker 1 or some other bit of our supper

Speaker 1 I'd slipped a few seasonal treats into my pocket on the way out of the cabin this morning

Speaker 1 and I stopped to arrange them for our possible guest

Speaker 1 I had a handful of cranberries, and I set them out in a circle.

Speaker 1 For eyes, there were two plump dates,

Speaker 1 and for a nose,

Speaker 1 there was a long, pale Brazil nut.

Speaker 1 Finally,

Speaker 1 I peeled a mandarin

Speaker 1 and laid the segments out to make a smile.

Speaker 1 It was silly, but it made me feel good

Speaker 1 and hospitable

Speaker 1 to set out this snack with care

Speaker 1 and a little whimsy.

Speaker 1 Sometimes your intention

Speaker 1 only comes across to you.

Speaker 1 Sometimes it's lost in translation,

Speaker 1 and the person

Speaker 1 or possum that you mean to express something to

Speaker 1 doesn't receive the full force of your statement. And that's okay.

Speaker 1 It can be enough that you carry the kindness in your heart.

Speaker 1 Whenever you wish someone well,

Speaker 1 you get the strongest dose of that medicine

Speaker 1 in your own head and heart first.

Speaker 1 So I left my smiley face behind

Speaker 1 as I stepped through the cabin door.

Speaker 1 The wind might blow it apart,

Speaker 1 the dog might run out and gobble it up,

Speaker 1 but still it had men made and offered up,

Speaker 1 and that mattered to me.

Speaker 1 Inside,

Speaker 1 the scent of baking pies filled the air,

Speaker 1 and I thought of that old trope

Speaker 1 in old timey cartoons,

Speaker 1 where someone smells a pie

Speaker 1 and starts floating along,

Speaker 1 toes a few inches above the floor, nose first

Speaker 1 toward the cooling treat.

Speaker 1 That pie-making class at the bakery had clearly paid off.

Speaker 1 The pies were set on a rack on the counter,

Speaker 1 and I clasped my hands behind my back

Speaker 1 to keep from breaking off a piece of the flaky crusts.

Speaker 1 I could hear the shower going,

Speaker 1 and peeked at my watch.

Speaker 1 It was about time to get ready.

Speaker 1 While dinner wouldn't be formal at all,

Speaker 1 it was a chance to spiff up a bit.

Speaker 1 I poked my head into the bathroom.

Speaker 1 It was full of steam

Speaker 1 and the scent of the eucalyptus that I'd hung up the day before

Speaker 1 by the shower head.

Speaker 1 My sweetheart was deep into shampooing and hadn't spotted me.

Speaker 1 So I sneaked over to the mirror

Speaker 1 and drew a heart in the condensation.

Speaker 1 Inside I scrawled our initials.

Speaker 1 We had a way of writing them

Speaker 1 that wove them together

Speaker 1 and we left the symbol sometimes

Speaker 1 for each other on notes

Speaker 1 or traced it in the sand at the beach.

Speaker 1 I snuck back out,

Speaker 1 stepped into the bedroom to page through the sweaters in my closet.

Speaker 1 The dog was stretched out across the foot of the bed,

Speaker 1 and I stopped to lay down with him.

Speaker 1 I snuggled up behind him,

Speaker 1 and he rolled over to show me his belly.

Speaker 1 His fur

Speaker 1 smelled of the fresh air

Speaker 1 and layers of scent we'd walked through in the woods.

Speaker 1 I laid my head beside his on the quilt,

Speaker 1 and we listened to the sound of the shower,

Speaker 1 and watched the branches

Speaker 1 shift in the wind.

Speaker 1 I didn't know

Speaker 1 what more I could ask for in that moment.

Speaker 1 A perfect Thanksgiving.

Speaker 1 Sweet dreams.