Diversity

I brined the turkey breast. My favorite wife prepared the broccoli and rice casserole (I chopped the jalapeños). Tomorrow morning, I will fire up the smoker and get to work. Five and one half-hours after I put the fractional bird in the smoker, it will be ready, or so I’m told. Once out of the smoker at the proper temperature, we’ll cover it in foil and put it away for the weekend. For tomorrow is not a day for smoked turkey. Do you not realize tomorrow is cinco de mayo? The day is celebrated (more in the U.S. than in Mexico) as the day Mexican troops overcame French troops at the Battle of Puebla. Many people wrongly assume cinco de mayo is Mexican independence day. No. That’s diez y seis de septiembre; September 16. Regardless, we’re going to smoke turkey tomorrow and wait it out while we celebrate the day with two sets of neighbors, both progressives. So, no party; but we’ll drink margaritas in the name of decency and honor and we’ll eat Mexican-inspired hors d’oeuvres and the like. And, then, on Saturday and beyond, we’ll celebrate by eating pavo ahumado and cazuela de broccoli con arroz. The adoption of cultural celebrations (which I do NOT consider cultural appropriation) and honor of cultures through their foods are ways in which I think we can acknowledge our appreciation for other lifestyles and cultures.Diversity in all its healthy forms deserves appreciation and acknowledgement. After all, we’re but evidence of the diversity of biological organisms, aren’t we? Well of course we are.