Thanksgiving 2011

Interesting how this all comes together. liturgically, for Anglicans, the feast of harvest was some time ago. But not for Americans, the last Thursday in November it is, and even though it is well after most crops outside California are gathered, it is an unchanging date.  So we, a secular nation, with no standard or even common definition of the creator give thanks to someone, maybe, if there is a someone.

It is interesting that the one constant is the meal. We all have turkey, even if some of us deep fry it, some of us stir fry it and some of us make it into fajitas. Even vegetarians have turkey shaped and flavored tofu. This one day a year, a hamburger is almost unpatriotic. Decades ago, I worked in the second ever franchised Mac Donalds. On Thanksgiving we had customers who would come in, get a burger and explain to the counter clerk that they were on the way to a late Turkey. We did not care, we only cared that we got overtime, making our princely salaries $1.50 an hour! But they were compulsive about telling us.

I am thankful for a loving wife, two generally tolerant sons (I do tick them off from time to time.) an absolutely fabulous daughter-in-law, two amazing and loving grand babies.  And I am thankful for all that being an American has come to mean, but most especially the opportunity we have to fix what it still needs to become. We will become more and better than we have been and that is the thing we can be most thankful for this day.

FWIW