Happy Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving could be my favourite holiday. You don't have to worry about presents or too much pomp & ceremony. This is one holiday in which it's all about the food. Plus, it's pretty much a non-denominational, all inclusive kind of day, although some First Nations people may disagree. And possibly some vegetarians, but that's why they invented Tofurkey (why else would someone invent tofurkey?) For any of my American friends who may be unaware, we here in Canada celebrate Thanksgiving in October. Why? As part of our national identity centers around being polite, we always want to be the first to say thank you.

As my son's birthday falls in the week before Thanksgiving, we manage to fulfill our family obligations then. Therefore, for Turkey Day we don't have to worry about traveling or remembering which side of the family we visited last year. I love that we seem to have started the tradition of hosting a potluck Thanksgiving for our friends every year. This year we've invited as many people as can fit around the table, plus a few more. Hence, I have named this year's turkey Larry, as he is one giant bird. I doubt we'll go around the table and have everyone state what they're thankful for; with this many people, the food would get cold before we got halfway around the room. The act of coming together, sitting down to share a meal: there is reverence and thanks in that alone. But to get in the spirit of things, I shall get my thanks out of the way now.

I am, of course, thankful for my friends and family, those I see regularly and those I rarely get to see. I am thankful for love, understanding, and acceptance. I am thankful for books, music, creativity. I am thankful for sleep, when I can get it. I am thankful for trees and streams and isolated beaches. I am thankful for Larry. I will be thankful if my old oven makes it through this day. I am thankful for chocolate. I am thankful for you.

Happy Turkey Day.