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November 17 , 2006

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Item article for Nov. 20

KEEPING SUMTER BEAUTIFUL  AMANDA MCNULTY, COUNTY

EXTENSION AGENT

LET THOSE CHILDREN FORAGE!

Thank goodness for Thanksgiving. If you have to stay up late the night before, it’s probably something to do with baking and not with looking for the scissors and wrapping presents.  Every year I make Charlotte Russe and it is so pleasant to cook with an open bottle of sherry on the counter. Being dressed appropriately means having on clean corduroy pants and a pullover.  What a marvelous occasion.

For me, decorating the table is part of the joy. The woods are filled with colorful leaves and berries are plump and plentiful. The spicy fragrance of sasanquas leads you to their laden branches.  Yesterday I saw the first paper whites blooming in the front bed. Great sticks, winged elm or the blanched branches of sycamore, create height in my centerpiece while Japanese maple and black gum leaves fill in with their brilliant oranges and reds.  And even though they are long past the age of complacence, if I put on my sweet Momma voice, a touch of Carolina Herra perfume, and offer the whipped cream bowl for licking, my darling children will still indulge me and make decorations for each place at the table.

When they were little this was an adventure.  While the turkey was browning, we had a scavenger hunt in our own backyard as we looked for those unusual objects to bring to the table. For several years, they collected magnolia leaves and used them as boats to be filled with other treasures -- acorns, pecans, sasanqua flowers -- occasionally topped off with feathers dropped by mockingbirds or blue jays. Usually we would add some little candies so the kids could have something sweet while waiting for the grownups to finish and were ready for the Charlotte Russe.  There was no right or wrong in how these impromptu creations were assembled. Each one was a masterpiece.

The weather is crisp and the sun is shining in all my Thanksgiving memories. Get your family away from that California parade on the television set and see the real American   decorations in your own back yard as you collect nature’s bounty. You don’t have to bag a wild turkey to bring in the harvest and have a connection with our forefathers who celebrated the fullness of life in this new world. Happy Thanksgiving. 

Write McNulty at amcnult@clemson.edu.

Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service offers its programs to people of all ages, regardless of race, color, gender, religion, national origin, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital or family status and is an equal opportunity employer.