With the Thanksgiving holiday now behind us and Christmas holiday quickly approaching, that doesn’t leave much time for a good debate. Maybe so, but here is you can still toss this around with family members as you chow down on leftovers this weekend. It has to do with Santa’s reindeer. They are all female — and pregnant.

Yes, it’s true. Well, maybe.

Dasher. Dancer. Prancer. Vixen. Comet. Cupid. Donder (yes, Donder). Blitzen. All of them could be making baby reindeer — and the experts say they know this because of the antlers (or lack thereof).

As you deer hunters know, male reindeer shed their barbs just after the mating season, which is in early December. So, with that in mind, a male reindeer would not have antlers on Dec. 24. 

Most female reindeer keep their antlers throughout the winter. This is because pregnant females use them to dig for food through the snow. Those who know say female reindeer lose their antlers just before giving birth. 

Now, of course, you can’t have pregnant reindeer without male reindeer (or a bunch of complicated science), so the guys do have something to do the with the process. They just aren’t members of Santa’s high-flyers on Christmas Eve. 

There is another possibility, again according to those who know. Since castrated reindeer don’t lose their antlers, Vixen and company could be male, meaning that those mischievous elves might have some sharp knives and yet another task at Santa’s Village. 

Some of you may be wondering about Rudolph, the little, red-nosed reindeer that saved Christmas. He may be the only male that pulls Santa’s sleigh. How do we know for sure?  Well, we don’t, but in Robert May’s original cover art on his 1939 book, Rudolph is not sporting antlers at all, which leaves the possibility open. 

If this leaves you all a bit bewildered, you are not alone. I am going with the idea that Santa’s reindeer are a mix of pregnant females (Dasher, Vixen and Cupid) and castrated males (Comet, Donder and Blitzen). I am undecided on Prancer and Dancer.

Throw that around with the leftover turkey and cranberry sauce this weekend. 

Have a fantastic Friday, and thanks for reading.

Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707

Turkey. Stuffing. Green bean casserole. Hot rolls. Cranberry sauce. Mashed potatoes. Those are the foods that often grace our dining table on Thanksgiving day, along with one other customary staple — gravy.

Yes, gravy. The wonderful potato topper made from the juices of meats running naturally during cooking and often thickened with corn starch for added texture. Mmmm. Mmmm.

Gravy is sometimes colored and flavored with gravy salt or gravy browning or ready-made cubes and powders. Canned and instant gravies are even available. I don’t really care, as long as there is gravy. 

Gravy is the Shamrock Shake of our household. It only comes out once per year, and I always look forward to it. 

Some of you may recall the 1951 Looney Toons classic cartoon called “Chow Hound” featuring a dog who bullies a cat for meat. When the cat brings the dog steak, the dog replies each time, “What, no gravy?” If you are a gravy lover, take 1:23 and check it out. 

A few decades ago, Jolene and I were at a community festival that had a princess competition for young girls. It was cute and innocent. The girls were tested with a few simple questions on stage by the host. One was asked, “What’s your favorite food?” She turned her head to the side, grinned ear to ear, and quietly said, “Gravy.” Kids are so honest. 

With all this love for gravy, one has to wonder how it became involved with a locomotive as a term for a source of income that generates abundant money with little effort. Yes, the gravy train.  Not the dog food. The term “gravy train” apparently has roots to the 1920s when railroad men invented the phrase to describe a run that provided good pay and little work. The words made their way into general speech, meaning to have a cushy job that pays well, or, more commonly, to be prosperous. Easy living, you might say. 

Well, if there is one day that should be easy, it’s Thanksgiving. Maybe not during the prep work for the person cooking (Jolene) or the clean-up time for the person doing the dishes (me), but the rest of the day is meant for relaxing.

And that, my friends, is a well-deserved gravy train. Happy Thanksgiving to you all. 

Have a terrific Tuesday, and thanks for reading. 

Have you seen the remote control? That’s a common question in our house, with the next one being, “Which remote control?”

We have the TV remote control. The sound bar remote control. And the Firestick remote control.

The most frequently lost remote control, though, is that slick metal one for the Apple TV. When we first misplaced it, I became so frustrated that I bought another one. Then I found the old one. Now we have two Apple TV remotes to lose. And we do. Frequently. 

I have learned that the most common spot to look for missing remotes is in the couch, as they often slip through the cushions. Since I am the designated person to do the search, I find many other hidden treasures — a dozen or so hair scrunchies, some pocket change, more bobby pins than I can count, and a few kernels of popcorn.

I remember when we had TVs without remote controls. Being the youngest child, I was the one who was told to change the channel. When that plastic knob would break (as it often did), I would have to use the pliers to turn to another station. Seriously. 

I also remember buying my first VCR, which came with a “corded” remote. It was about 6 feet long and had more tangles that a string of Christmas lights. It didn’t last long. 

The first TV I personally bought was in 1990, and it was a console set on a swivel base that had a great picture and an incredible booming sound from its wooden enclosure. TVs didn’t need sound bars back then, but those who bought them did need ibuprofen after moving the 150-pounders (which I did up and down stairs more times than I want to count). Most importantly, this TV came with a remote control. No pliers. 

It’s too bad life doesn’t have a remote control so we could turn down the volume, press mute, change the channel to a different scene, or simply press off — all at the click of a button. That sounds nice, but it’s probably best that a life remote doesn’t exist. It would likely fall between the cushions, too. 

Have a fantastic Friday, and thanks for reading.

Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707

Do you get cold feet? My inquiry is not an analogy or code for anything. It’s just a simple question. Do your feet get cold?

Doctors say your feet can feel cold due to cold temperatures, high stress, anxiety, circulation issues, anemia, diabetes mellitus, nerve disorders, hypothyroidism and some other things most of us can’t pronounce. 

Some simple solutions include movement, socks, foot baths, heating pads, water bottles — and my favorite fix, slippers. 

Yes, slippers. I have a half-dozen of them around the home and office. Call me Mr. Rogers if you want, but my feet are toasty, and it’s a beautiful day in my neighborhood. 

My friend Jason used to mock me for wearing them, especially when I would bring a pair over to his house when visiting. Then he started wearing slippers, or “house shoes,” as he calls them. 

As a child, I couldn’t stand to wear slippers. Seems like I received a pair every year for Christmas, but I rarely wore them. But, to be honest, I rarely wore shirts or pants around the house either. Like most boys, I was too warm-blooded for a whole lot of body coverings. 

Most of us can recall the image of the father figure in the home, relaxing in the easy chair, reading the evening paper, smoking a pipe and having the family dog bring him his slippers. When our kids were still at home, that evening image would have been of me in the kitchen, filling the dishwasher, asking Alexa to play some Elvis music, cleaning up the garbage that the dog got into — and keeping my feet warm with some fuzzy foot coverings. It’s not the makings of a Hallmark movie, but I will take it, as long as I have my slippers.

Comedian/politician Al Franken may have summed up the solution to cold feet best with these words, “It’s easier to put on slippers than to carpet the whole world.”

Have a terrific Tuesday, and thanks for reading. 

Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital newsletter
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707

Doing the dishes was a nightly task in my childhood home and one that my siblings and I argued over each evening. Who would clear the table? Who would wash the dishes? Rinse them? Dry them? Put them away?

I was the youngest of four children, so I likely was cut some slack. Still, I was eager to be like “the big kids” and help out. My siblings were eager to delegate the tasks — until I dropped a plate, and Mom would not-so-nicely blame it on them.

Mom would often say she didn’t need one of those newfangled dishwashers. She had four of them, and we were better than any Whirlpool. We were faster. The dishes were cleaner. And we used less water and no electricity.

Mom was the inspector. If any food residue was still on the dishes, they went back through the cycle — and none of us wanted to be blamed for that. So we scrubbed, and we rinsed, and we dried, and we put away. 

Doing dishes with Dad was easier. We would wash the dishes and then set them on the counter on a drying rack. “We will let Jesus dry those,” he would say with a chuckle. 

Looking back, I am glad we did the dishes by hand. We learned to actually talk to each other, not only sorting out tasks but actually having discussions. We learned how to work together quickly, efficiently and in an orderly manner. We would listen to music sometimes, but we would usually just talk. There was a lot of joking around, laughing and storytelling. It was mostly silly stuff, as I recall, but it was important then. 

Jolene and I had a similar process with our kids at home, filling the dishwasher after each meal. The dreaded task was clearing the dishwasher, especially when learning it was full of clean dishes when you were ready to load the dirty ones in. When all our kids were home, the dishwasher seemed to run daily. Now, it may run once a week.

Dishwashing today is a different process for a different era, and it just isn’t the same as leaning over the sink, shoulder to shoulder, trading out wet towels. I am reminded of this process as the holidays approach and we hand-wash the “fancy” dishes — and I am actually looking forward to it. 

Have a fantastic Friday, and thanks for reading.

Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707

Today, we officially honor those our country’s veterans. As we offer our appreciation, we should remember the complicated process of how this day came about.

World War I officially ended on June 28, 1919. However, fighting stopped seven months earlier when an armistice between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Those numbers signify the reason for the observation date of Nov. 11.

In November of 1919, President Wilson proclaimed Nov. 11 as the first Armistice Day to honor the veterans of World War I. The celebration included parades, public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11 a.m. On May 13, 1938, Nov. 11 became a legal holiday dedicated to world peace and was celebrated as “Armistice Day.” On June 1, 1954, Armistice Day was appropriately amended and became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

Then things got complicated.

The Uniform Holiday Bill was signed on June 28, 1968, with an intent to provide three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Columbus Day. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holidays on their original dates. The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with widespread confusion on Oct. 25, 1971. On Sept. 20, 1975, President Ford signed a law returning the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of Nov. 11 starting in 1978.

Today, Veterans Day continues to be observed on Nov. 11, regardless of what day of the week it falls on. The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to Nov. 11 preserved the historical significance of the date. It also helps focus attention on the purpose of Veterans Day: to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, their love of country, and their willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

Amen. Thank you, veterans.

Have a terrific Tuesday, and thanks for reading. 

Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital newsletter
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707