Appreciation

I love looking through those odd catalogs you get--Sharper Image is the high end, Lillian Vernon the middle end (if the middle can be said to have an end) and there are a couple of definitely lower end ones--at the odd things people invent and put out for sale. Who decided that a pith helmet with can-holder and built in straw was a good idea? Or a pith helmet with a tiny battery operated fan in the crown, to cool ones sweaty brow?

So I note with reverence the passing of Eugene Beals -- inventor of turkey pop-up timer. Who among us has not peered anxiously into the oven to see whether the little red button on the Thanksgiving Butterball had popped yet? I just think it's swell that Mr. Beals came up with the idea, and swell that he is celebrated for it posthumously. The fact that I usually use my grandmother's method of testing a turkey for doneness (is the juice of the thigh clear, with no bloodiness? Your turkey is done) in no way diminishes my appreciation.