Thanksgiving 2021

 A little levity from Slobbers to begin this post. Slobbers, my saving grace.

It has been quite a couple of years, hasn't it? Is the end in sight? Sometimes I think maybe, then again, I think not.  Never-the-less, I've always tried to be a glass half full person.

As is true every year, there are things to be thankful for if nothing more than looking into your yard and seeing the birds hop around searching for seed or your kids playing with your dog. Normalcy, as it once was. For this I am thankful.

What I rue is the chaos that still reigns. The divisiveness that begets unrest and violence. The political philosophies and agendas that strive for power for a few and a bitter pill for the remainder.

It is so foreign to the America in which I grew up and I miss that America - terribly. The America I live in today is taking its toll.  I'm old and for a very long time I never felt so.  I do now. I've had two years of what could have been vibrant life, denied.  Not by a virus but by those who would use it as a weapon of convenience. I find it hard not to resent them. I do resent them.

My level of patience is very low. I'm tired. I ache mentally and physically. I look at the table and there sits that glass. There is liquid in it to the half way point.  Is it half full or half empty? I look out my kitchen door. Quail are scurrying across the yard. Little House Finches are splashing around the edge of the pond. A pair of Great Horned Owls are getting their zzzzz's in a willow.

I look back at the glass.  It is half full.  No doubt about it. And for that I am thankful.

Thanksgiving ~ A Pause That Refreshes

At least I hope it does. A break from all the bleak news that bombasts us daily.

We all have a lot to be thankful for even if we feel like we have to turn over rocks to discover just what.

For me, it's that I'm still here. It's that I've been married for 48 years to my first and only husband.  It's that he is not a man bent on bad behavior.  It's that I have a wonderful home, more than enough food on the table and friends, really good friends, that date back to my childhood.  It's that they, too, are still here!

It's that we still live in the best country in the world.  We're going through a really tough patch right now but I believe common sense and love of country over self will win out in time.  I remind myself I don't see the headlines in newspapers around the world, or how reporters report things that are in their national and local interest.  I remind myself they too have similar problems with media overkill and political self serving.

We don't live under a dictatorship.  Our military is not lurking on the sidelines waitng for an over- throw opportunity.  Among those running the country there are good men and women and slowly but surely they are being heard  and gaining a foothold.

We have become a vast nation harboring such massive differences in regional needs I think it's an amazing glue that keeps us together.  I'm thankful for that.

Having traveled the world as well as this country, I'm thankful I was fortunate enough to be born here. Here, too, will I die. Just another person who has lived a life of mediocre accomplishment.  I've tried to be a good person, a caring person and a tolerant person. I'm thankful that what I've been has been enough to enjoy what has been a wonderful, fulfilling life.  Pretty much just a middle of the road type of person.  I'm thankful, too, for those of far greater accomplishment who have used their talents to keep our homeland the best of the best. May they grow in numbers. I'll be thankful for that too.

That's pretty much me.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Thankful For What?

As we head full steam toward Thanksgiving Day I know I have a lot to be thankful for.  I'm still here for one.  I have my husband , my home, family and friends.  There is always food on the table and warmth in the house.  And this is still the best country in the world. God help us remain so.

But will we? I have never known so many otherwise intelligent, thinking people behaving so poorly than what I'm witnessing these days.  Forget about the bad behavior copy cats and kids who think it's cool, or whatever their rationale may be.

It's bad enough people are requiring safe rooms, therapy dogs and coloring books to cope with election results; even worse is the continuing misrepresentation of quotes by the media and the cruelness, yes cruelness, shown toward our newly elected leaders and their families.

What is wrong with this country?  How have we gotten to this point?  It's apparent if only one can be objective.  One side has decided they know what is best for everyone and choose not to cope with those who disagree.  Rather than having a discussion we get sullen lectures then threat.  We have a President on his farewell tour around the world doing his best to negate his successor's presidency before it even gets started.  People are openly mocking Melania Trump.  What's that all about?  The media is not changing it's spots nor do I expect it will.

What I do know is that I hope Trump continues to pick strong people for his cabinet and once in the White House he has a tremendously successful tenure. As my husband often says, "Don't get mad, get even."  Well, what better way than to have that success.

He then can use the Sinatra song as his theme, "I did it my way".  After all, it's what the people wanted.  Something different from what we've been living with for decades.  Mr. Trump is by no means the most polished of "outsiders".  Never-the-less he is the President elect.  It's time we started treating him with the respect due the office if not the man.

We can disagree.  We can also bite our tongues, suck it up and regain some civility.  If you think other countries are unfair in their view of Obama as being weak, what do you think they think of the way so many anti-Trump people are behaving post election?

Coloring books and therapy dogs?  They have nothing to fear from that. What do we have to fear?  Their attitudes and what those attitudes might lead to. We've already seen plenty of it.

Mr. Trump, to you, your family and those you choose to help you govern, God speed and happy Thanksgiving. There are many millions who wish you the same.  We just don't get the press.

This Would Be A REAL Thanksgiving!

Yesterday while Hub was fixing our more than ample Thanksgiving dinner for our more than ample bodies, I ran my blogs.

One of my favorites, Dog Walk Blog had the most provocative post of all. A proposal for taking the American holiday, Thanksgiving, and making it a worldwide "Eating Day" thus making it a true Thanksgiving.

A similar thought had been running through my mind since the wrap up of "Tom's Turkey Drive", an effort to provide Thanksgiving dinner fixings for thousands of Spokanites sponsored by Tom Sherry, KREM2 weather man. As I read the papers this morning I see the requests for Christmas are already ramping up.

Not to take away from the people who benefit from these food drives, but none of them look like the child in the photo. Nor do the people who benefit from the local food banks year round. That, I think, is something for all of them to be "thankful" for! Not only for the food they receive from the generosity of others, but that there are those in this country willing and able to make the necessary contributions.

Like us. We are no different. We over indulge during the holidays with hardly a thought. Serving holiday meals to the needy at holiday time may take away a degree of guilt. Never-the-less I won't have to cook for nearly a week. It will take that long to finish up the leftovers.

There is, however, the rest of the world. We see glimpses of it in newscasts if we pay attention, but as with most things we'd rather not look straight in the eye, the images soon fade. There are organizations worldwide that try to address this problem. They make a meager impact while lacking in nutritional foodstuffs, facing the realities of drought and nationwide famines coupled with corrupt governments not caring about their people.

What better time of year to bring it to worldwide attention than Thanksgiving? When we are all literally stuffing ourselves, even those among us who have had to ask for help?

My friend Dog Walk has taken it a step further. He has put forth a feeler. I thought I'd help him along. Here is my comment to him and his in return

#1Dogwalk Musings
on Nov 27th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was enough food for the entire world to have an “Eating Day”! No more famine, no more food banks. That would be good cause to change the name to a worldwide “Thanksgiving”!

#2Rufus
on Nov 27th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
It kinda started out as a joke, but it is turning into something like that… The day we start is the day we start making the world a better place. Eating Day - nothing there now, but just wait… care to join in the effort?

.

I think he says it all. My question is can bloggers, just regular bloggers like you and me, become an "A"Team? You know, the one's who love to see a plan come together?

This one's for you Rufus! I'll be waiting for you to get that web site going!

My Thanksgiving Wish For All

Few artists could touch our hearts with with a brush more than Norman Rockwell. Be thankful we still have these "Four Freedoms" and as the caption says - they are ours to fight for.

This Goose Isn't Cooked!

Back in 1621 when the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Indians first celebrated Thanksgiving it isn't know for sure that turkey was even on the menu. More likely there would have been venison, duck and even lobster, cod and eel. Plus the yield from their fields. So just how is it that the poor turkey got pegged for the job of being sacrificed as Sarah Palin touted a pardon?

One story has it that the 16th century version of Queen Elizabeth was feasting on roast goose during harvest time when word came that the Spanish Armada had been sunk thus thwarting an attack on dear old England. The Queen was so pleased she ordered up a second goose and from that time forward it became a favorite during harvest time.

Fast forward to the new world. The Pilgrims, so it goes, wanted to maintain the tradition but found wild turkeys to be abundantly available compared to the goose.

Not to mention that geese can actually fly and can be down right nasty if provoked. Wild turkeys, though they can be intimidating because of their size, aren't built for fast flight. I was witness to this often when we lived in Rochester NY and had a backyard full of them on a daily basis eating the leftovers from the bird feeders. That which the deer would spill after the birds that it was intended for were tucked away for the long cold nights. I can remember them coming onto our deck looking for food and peering into the kitchen if I hadn't filled the feeders on a particular day.

We didn't have a lot of Canadian geese among the foragers. They probably hung out closer to the lake. If the Pilgrims had had more geese, however, would we have ever had Mother Goose? I figure the expression "your goose is cooked" must have British origins. Of course there is also the goose that laid the golden egg. Rich history, those geese! Not to mention as a food stuff they are rife with fat and goose liver foie gras is cholesterol heaven.

So the poor old turkey falls prey every year. Other than the fact Ben Franklin wanted the wild turkey to be our national bird, what do they have to offer? Certainly not goose down comforters or parkas. All that comes to mind is turkey in the straw and what good is that?

Oh, yes, there is also turkey stuffing, turkey gravey, turkey sandwiches and turkey leftovers! It's really a blessing they are not very smart. Hopefully they are dispatched humanely. The one in the Palin video was probably struggling not so much because he realized his time was about up but that he had to listen to her try to put together a cohesive sentence!