Posts tagged as:
thanksgiving
I’d like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Amid all of the chaos and uncertainty, many of us have much to give thanks for, and that’s what today is (or should be) all about no matter where you are, or who you’re with.
Don’t overdo it on the Turkey, Stuffing, or Mashed Potatoes (yeah….{burp}….right, OK!)
At least there are some interesting games on today. Sticking my foot solidly in my mouth;
Captain Obvious: Tenessee at Detroit. I just can’t see the Lions breaking their 0-11 losing streak today
I like Seattle at Dallas. I know the Seahawks are 2-9 but they’re fired up to put another in the “W” column.
I like the Eagles at home to Arizona. Donovan McNabb has something to prove after having been benched on Sunday.
Watch me go 0-3 on todays picks 
Update:
Tennessee 47 Detroit 10 - Not a surprise
Seattle 9 Dallas 34 – Oops! Seattle lived up to their reputation!
Eagles 48 Cardinals 20 – McNabb redeemed himself and then some! 4 TD passes. 27 completions for 260 yards.
OK, I’m 2-1 which ‘aint too shabby.
I would have to say that few of the 300 million (or so) people of the United States acknowledge Thanksgiving in the way in which it was intended.
I can tell you this; today is NOT about overeating so badly that you’re in pain afterwards, then collapsing into a chair and watching football until you fall asleep. Today is about being with family and friends, certainly eating together, but also literally giving thanks for what we have.
This holiday of ours goes back a long way.
In 1621, after a brutal and devastating first year in the New World, the fall harvest of the Pilgrims was successful. They discovered that they had sufficient food to survive the coming winter. They had beaten the odds. Their Governor, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving that was to be shared by all the colonists and the neighboring indigenous (Native American) people.
The custom of an annually celebrated thanksgiving after the harvest continued down the years. During the Revolutionary War a day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress in 1777. Two years later, in 1789, President George Washington delivered the first Thanksgiving Proclamation, and subsequent presidents followed suit. It wasn’t until 1863 however that Thanksgiving became an “officially declared day” by President Lincoln. Since then, every President has made a symbolic official Thanksgiving Proclamation on behalf of the nation.
Canada also celebrates Thanksgiving, but on the second Monday of October, and more closely reflects the date range of European Harvest Festival celebrations.
This morning, as I walked back home after taking my daughter to school, that was my moment of personal thanksgiving – as is the case each and every day I walk that same route homeward. I don’t wait for one day per year to say thanks to the higher power that looks upon us all, I say thanks for a wonderful wife and daughter, a life filled with joys and new discoveries and delights each day, the blessings of real and true friends. As it should be.
That said, today I also give thanks for (and to) America. I also silently wish that I am not witnessing the beginning of the demise of the home of liberty and freedom, because events of the past few years seem to tell an ominous unfolding story. Then again, we have faced – and defeated – Constitutional crises before, I have to hope we shall once more.
Happy Thanksgiving to one and all who might happen to stop by this little site.