In this household convention doesn’t always hold sway: some years it’s turkey before the day, or turkey after it, or turkey before and after, and sometimes even turkey on Thanksgiving Day.

At Wheatsville Co-op, there’ve been years when we lucked into a last-minute bird ordered by someone else but not picked up. We found a turkey locally raised one year at the farmers’ market. That place is gone now, but I’ve heard that the Alexander Family Farm of egg fame has taken some orders this year. Our former Wheatsville trophies were Mary’s; this year Wheatsville has birds from another source (Grateful Harvest) and we loved the Mary’s birds so much that we’ve watched for them.

And we found some Mary’s beauties at Fresh Plus / Kash-Karry in Clarksville. They’re fresh, not frozen, and they’re wonderful. We roasted one on Sunday and we’ll return for another. The price? We paid $1.29 a pound, worth every penny. Fresh Plus also stocks Bell’s Seasoning, that old-fashioned standby.

This year, the Chron lists a number of dining spots open on Thanksgiving Day. The info’s to be found on pages 58 and 60 of the print edition (links are to PDF files of the individual pages). The quite extensive roster is probably intended to include only those venues offering turkey; in past years Indian and some Chinese restaurants have been open on The Day and serving more exotic fare. I can remember enjoying turkey (instead of chicken) jalfrezi one year at Taj Palace.

I never know whether to write about events before or after they occur. Those mentioned beforehand are always ones that I plan to attend. Sometimes I write about them afterward; sometimes, not. Here are two that are great for families, and free. The cadets from College Station will march up Congress to the Capitol grounds on Thanksgiving Day, starting at 1 pm, and the Chuy’s parade will be on Saturday, marching down Congress at 11 am after forming up on the east side of the Capitol grounds. I know what band will march on Thanksgiving Day; I hope that the Hardin-Simmons Cowboy Band, a great favorite of all (check out that audio of Hey! Baby), will be among the marchers in Chuy’s parade.

I like my turkeys fresh, not frozen, and my music carried to my ears in the open air.