Thanksgiving

Almost everyone who lives in the USA and especially in Morrison, IL should be thankful for the blessings and abundance that surrounds us. Most of us don't even give it a passing thought and some may even feel like they aren't getting their fair share. I assure you that what you have is beyond belief to a significant majority of inhabitants on this planet.

Walk in a grocery store or any large discount store these days where overflowing shelves attest to the plenty. I would hazard a guess that a super sized fast food meal might have enough calories to keep a small family alive for a week, but as we now know a steady diet like this isn't very healthy. I guess the USA demonstrates the downside of "abundance."

Thanksgiving may be my favorite holiday. I'm sure Christmas was my first choice growing up, but now that I'm Santa I prefer the simplicity of this secular holiday which did not become official (despite the Indian/Pilgrim story of 1621) until President Lincoln declared a national holiday in 1863. Prior to this President Washington had proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving and a few other presidents after him, but with no consistency. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the 4th Thursday of November as the official day in 1939.

Thanksgiving is also celebrated in Canada on the 2nd Tuesday of October (when we celebrate Columbus Day), but nowhere else. Trying to explain the menu and the holiday to someone outside the US and Canada can sometimes be difficult, but during my 28 years of work overseas, this was often the day I missed most if I had to work. On the other hand the Bangladeshi catering staff on my last rig in the Persian Gulf always remembered the day on my behalf and served turkey and fixings. Actually we probably had turkey once a week anyway since it is halal or kosher or fit to eat by any religious, cultural or hygienic requirement.

Harvest festivals (the party after bringing in the crops and/or sharing the bounty with the poor) have been celebrated throughout the ages and are still major feasts in many countries and cultures. Erntedank is celebrated in Germany, Maka Sankranti in India, Sukkot in Israel, Ikore in Nigeria and Harvest Festival in Great Britain which is a religious holiday.

For those preparing the feast and the poor bird who gives his life so that we might eat, it might not be such a wonderful holiday. However, the opportunity to gather as family or friends and share what we have is a joyous event across all cultures no matter how much or how little that might be. Parades and football games and an afternoon nap are just frosting on the cake (or whipped cream on the pumpkin pie).

(by Marc Adami, Guest Columnist)