Thanksgiving
I’m so glad to see that Thanksgiving is becoming more accepted as a two-day holiday. It’s always seemed silly to me to have a Thursday holiday that emphasizes the gathering of families and then expect workers to be happily back on the job on Friday.
In this day and age, families often don’t live around the corner from one another. There is a reason that Thanksgiving is known as the heaviest travel period of the entire year. (Though I do know it is true that here in Sanpete there are a number of “clans” who do live in close proximity.)
There are those among us who get all fidgety and uptight at the mention of any holiday. For them, it’s just plain anti-American and unchristian to not be working 24/7.
These are the workaholics. For them, the work is never done and there’s to be no stopping until it is done. (Re-read that sentence and think about it. Do you see the inherent problem with the workaholic philosophy? The trouble is, with some jobs, all of the work never is truly done – for instance farming.
These workaholics are the ones who love the concept of establishments that never close. Ebenezer Scrooge fit into this category. All work, no play.
It is at this point that I must pause and admit that I have a problem with being away from work and “giving it and myself a rest.” I’m a worrier. But I’m attempting to change.
Thanksgiving has become my time for asking, “Why can’t we, as Americans, set our labors aside for a couple of days plus a weekend and enjoy the benefits of the association of family and friends, relaxation and a change of pace?”
In a world where e-mail, cell phones, express couriers, and computers have combined to make customers more “king” than ever; providers of goods and services desperately need a break every so often. And if everyone, customers and businesses, take the break at the same time, then no one needs to worry about someone else getting the edge against the other.
I was reminded by a little newspaper piece a while back that the first Thanksgiving with the pilgrims lasted three days. The pilgrims didn’t come up with the idea of the feast. The Indians had been feasting at harvest time before the white folks arrived in 1620. The two newly met cultures gathered and the feast was a time of thanks and new friendship.
According to history.com, we don’t know exactly what the Pilgrims and Native Americans had on their menu at what we call the first Thanksgiving. There may or may not have been turkey on the table.
We do know that they had meat. Records indicate that the Indians showed up with five deer. There was no pumpkin pie, but they might have eaten pumpkin. (There was no butter and wheat flour for making pie crust)
Seafood was probably a big part of the meal. Mussels were nearby and easy to get. It’s thought that lobster, clams, oysters and fish otherwise were part of the menu. It reminds me that our family ate Thanksgiving dinner at King’s Fish House in Henderson, Nevada last year.
We made a request and one of the kitchen staff brought out a live lobster in her hand to show the kids. It became kind of a scary “petting zoo” moment.
When ordering, I opted for the “special” — traditional turkey dinner. Others in our party ate as if they were Pilgrims on Cape Cod Bay.
Evidently there were nearly twice as many Native Americans at the first Thanksgiving as there were colonists. Many who had come across the ocean on the Mayflower had died by the time the November 1621 event happened – especially women.
At the feast, the Pilgrims had 22 men, and over 25 children and teenagers; and just four women attending. The Native Americans had more than 90 men.
This week is a great time to pause and remember our blessings. We live in a terrific time and in a terrific place. We have much to be grateful for.
As poor as we sometimes think we have it here in Sanpete, there are so many other places in the world where life is incomprehensibly worse than we have it. Life is good in so many ways here.
And, to top it all off, this is the holiday where Sanpete shines with our turkey industry. Thank goodness tuna casserole is not America’s traditional feast meal. (Though, with a little ketchup, I believe that tuna casserole really is quite tasty)
Enjoy your holiday. — Merrill