Feasting

I have always loved Thanksgiving.  But, lately, it seems as if right after Labor Day, when the school supply shelves are emptied, we see Halloween décor....quickly followed by Christmas trees and Santa Claus.

Some people still celebrate Thanksgiving.  I know that many families gather, as mine did in the above picture, at home or at the homes of friends and family to pass around the turkey and ham and sweet potatoes.

I have spent Thanksgiving in many different places and remember some of them with fondness.

The first year that we had our farm in the Wilderness, Andy and I drove down from Illinois after work and arrived at our place in the middle of the night.  We had no cabin to stay in.  We had no tent to put up.  So we spread out our tarp on the frozen ground, laid our sleeping bag on top of it and crawled in.  Early that morning I awoke to snow filtering down on my head.  We were covered with about an inch of snow that had fallen in the night.  We jumped up, brushed off the snow and made a fire of sorts.  As I remember we had fried Spam and applesauce for dinner that day.

I really loved to go to my Aunt Taty's for Thanksgiving when I was small.  My cousins and I would help out in the kitchen, peeling potatoes and doing other chores that would help get the meal started.  The men would be in the living room talking about work or how their harvest went that fall.  Rolls were baking in the oven and the turkey would be browning up nicely.  Since we were suppose to be seen but not heard, we would run outside and see who could make it up and down the slide the fastest.  Finally we would be called in to the table.  After we said grace we would dive into all that glorious food.  And we always left room for my aunt's famous chocolate pie.  She made two or three of them because one piece was not enough.  After dinner we would visit and catch up on all the news.  Invariably, someone would sneak into the kitchen and help themselves to just a little more turkey and ham.  Such good food.

These days it seems as if Thanksgiving dinner is served either before, after, or during the football games that have taken over the day.  And if you really want to be smart, you bundle up and go out to the nearest mall to wait for the late night opening to get that "must have" item for Christmas.

This year I will celebrate Thanksgiving.  I may not have a feast.  I may not be with family.  But I will be truly thankful for what I have.  Thanksgiving lives on.  And I hope it lives on for you.  Happy Thanksgiving.