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Thanks and Giving
Put together, these two words sum up our United States holiday of Thanksgiving. It sets us apart from some countries, ideologies, and regimes. It has a history that some may try to distort.
Our forefathers tell a different version. As a child, we dressed up as Indians and Pilgrims in grade school. We had to learn how America came to be, as we ate candy corn and made cutouts of turkeys using our hands. Thanksgiving meant something and still does.
We’ll pay out the tail for that turkey and dig out our cherished recipes and traditions. It cost more this year to put the meal on the table, but the cost is forgotten for a moment. Who’s coming to dinner? What relatives should we tip-toe around, politically speaking? Who will hog the stuffing (ok, me)?! Will Charlie Brown be on TV?
How about watching the Macy’s Parade as all your favorite foods go into the oven?
Break out the cigars, the drinks, football games, the rich desserts, and remember the prayers. Thank you, God, for bringing us all together as Americans, for our jobs, healthcare (that isn’t yet socialized), for our quirky, generous, meddlesome, lovely neighbors, and being able to live in a free country – no matter what anyone says. Go ahead – binge on Star Wars movies and remember this is a country that pardons turkeys – and believes groundhogs can predict the weather. He even has a holiday.
How many farmers provided our bounty and refuse to give up the farm because the farm means family and the family means farming? Their fresh eggs and produce still nourish us. Have that extra piece of pie, and if you spot Klaus Schwab peeking in the window to see if you bought fake meat like a good citizen, pull the shades. Remember what happened to Cuomo.
We have traditions because family is everything. Marriage and children are everything. American and Judeo-Christian holidays are approaching. Our founders made sure we could celebrate in freedom. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. In fact, have more dessert and more kids. The planet will be ok.
Put a little extra in the Salvation Army bucket this year. Reject the scary headlines. Jeff Bezos recently said this recession is going to get worse, so hold off buying that car, computer, house, or new outfit for Christmas. What nerve. That should tell you to go buy what you need now. Those ultra-wealthy in power think they pull all the levers. Our Founders said otherwise. They dedicated a special day – Thanks-Giving and many other national holidays to remind us who we are, and how we overcame tyranny time and time again.
Just a reminder, It’s: ‘We the People’………don’t forget it. And have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Published in General
Oddly for an atheist, I feel that gratitude is what defines conservatives, and that redemption is what defines America.
I very much like your post, and if even scumbag Cuomo showed up hungry at my apartment, I wouldn’t turn his worthless carcass away. He’s welcome to a burrito, some Target macaroni and cheese, salad from a bag, and some of the champagne that went un-used in November of 2020. Then he would leave, and I would be grateful.
That is funny!
…and make that recession come even sooner! Bezos is a fool! If you stop buying big things, the companies that make and sell those things can’t stay in business!
One piece of news I recently read about is that Beyond Meats, who makes all that fake “food”, is laying off employees, right before the holidays. Evidently, not enough Americans are buying what they are selling. And I also read that one of their factories in Pennsylvania was cited for dozens of food-safety violations, including contamination and filth on the floors.
So, make that turkey or whatever you make, give thanks that you were born in the Greatest Country on God’s Green Earth, and drink a toast to the Founders who made it all possible.
Great advice! That is gross – beyond meat shouldn’t contain floor debris…..
Our Thanksgiving traditions…
The kids fire off the spud cannon (this year, for lack of spuds we used onions). It was … dramatic.
Traditional (for the northeast) chestnut stuffing. 2-3 turkeys (depending on guest count), made in my father-in-law’s tradition. We have a number of people we rarely see (like the OfEnglands). My wife takes pie very seriously
At the meal everyone is expected to say something they are grateful for that a year ago they would never have expected. And everyone writes Haikus. Here are some from yesterday:
Where do turkeys go
when they die? Apparently,
it’s in our oven
That our beloved country
marks a day of thanks
should fill our hearts with joy
Don’t ruin Thanksgiving
don’t bring up Donald J Trump
Oh no! This Haiku
And we sing. We sing the National Anthem, in gratitude to our host nation. We sing some Jewish songs. And, for some crazy reason, all the kids stand up and belt out the entirety of “Gory, Gory, What a Hell of a Way to Die.” So … odd.
It was beautiful.
Makes you wonder who taught them that. Someone musically inclined, perhaps? (:
My independent children we both out of town yesterday with their spouses and our grandkids, but we were joined by my older brother and his entire clan (with one son-in-law and his one grandchild), for eleven at our table.
It was grand. Remarkably few leftovers from a 19-lb turkey and all the traditional sides.
{ Having a big table, new this year, has greatly enhanced our ability to host. (: }
Love it!!! Ready for spuds and more food!!
For many years, I sang in a Thanksgiving Day church service. 10 a.m. Right slap down in the prime cooking window. It made meal prep a bit difficult. But worse, I couldn’t watch the Macy’s Parade. Always watched it growing up.
Between COVID and a change of church leadership, we no longer have a Thanksgiving service. This year I had all the time in the world to cook AND I could watch that parade. Fantastic!
Then I actually watched the parade. Or rather, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Extravaganza. What a disappointment. Lip-synching pop stars I either didn’t know or didn’t know were still alive, and Broadway production numbers. Blech.
I wanted to see a parade—marching bands, floats, balloons. Ah, well. My memories of Macy’s parades past were much better than the reality. I’m sure there’s a lesson there somewhere.
I admit I have never understood the point of a parade. One of those things that entirely eludes me.
I think it harks back to a simpler time, when people didn’t have 24/7 entertainment. I’m sure the appeal for me is pure nostalgia.
Parades were a local thing, a community-affirming and reinforcing event. As a kid, I rode my bike in the Fourth of July Parade, and felt pretty big about it at the time. Beats what we have now, a bunch of disintered mopes because nobody offered community to them when they were kids.
That sounded magnificent! What is the tradition your turkeys are cooked in? The Haiku on turkeys reminded me of our house in Massachusetts. I had friends over for a lunch and we had a den off the kitchen with sliders to a deck. They looked up and saw several turkeys looking in the window! My friend said they were trying to get a look at the oven to make sure they were too big to fit – it was before Thanksgiving! This really happened!
My husband always wants the same menu – the traditional sides – funny – don’t defer!
I so agree with you – rap should be banned from the parade…..I loved the balloons – and there were some good marching bands – one was the town my brother in law lives in. And they have so many participants, they only show them for seconds! All that prepping and practice! Then Santa for 10 seconds – I can’t stand it!