tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post1295692951854054908..comments2023-10-31T05:03:38.910-07:00Comments on Letters from a broad...: Thanksgiving humbug!C. L. Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-29078352684006546502009-12-08T12:33:48.707-08:002009-12-08T12:33:48.707-08:00Hey UFPC!!!
Sounds like a great tradition!
Hey M...Hey UFPC!!!<br /><br />Sounds like a great tradition!<br /><br />Hey MPL!!!<br /><br />Yeah, I know that Thanksgiving wasn't declared a national holiday until Lincoln's term. Actually, it makes me wonder when the federal government first got the idea of legally declaring holidays. Also, it makes me wonder whether Thanksgiving is even celebrated in the American South. It seems awfully Yankee...C. L. Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-88117443708883953642009-12-06T22:19:25.812-08:002009-12-06T22:19:25.812-08:00Not to be a total grinch, but the yearly Thanksgiv...Not to be a total grinch, but the yearly Thanksgiving we have is not really related other than in name to the occasional feasts in October that the colonists in Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colony had.<br /><br />Thanksgiving days were done one at a time by proclamation until it got turned into a permanent holiday by our only President who presided over even less fun than the Puritans: Abraham Lincoln.<br /><br />That's right, Thanksgiving was invented in the middle of the American Civil War.<br /><br />Speaking of eating too much, the state of New Hampshire had a "Fast Day" up until 1991.MPLnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-15228350200385941052009-12-03T18:15:53.801-08:002009-12-03T18:15:53.801-08:00Ha. At my family's Thanksgiving dinners, we a...Ha. At my family's Thanksgiving dinners, we always go around the table with each person saying what they're thankful for. I always add random crap like "water" and "narwhals." Though this year I added in "mountains" and was actually <a href="http://ilovemountains.org/" rel="nofollow">serious</a> about it. <br /><br />Our other main Thanksgiving tradition is taking a walk on this one rocky, steep, somewhat treacherous, very fun hiking trail near our house.UneFemmePlusCourageusehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10162627227823701520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-11925475931857838102009-11-28T14:20:55.126-08:002009-11-28T14:20:55.126-08:00I had no idea there were so many partisans for thi...I had no idea there were so many partisans for this little holiday! Well, never let it be said that I shy away from posting on <i>controversial topics</i>! ;^)<br /><br />But, seriously, different strokes for different folks -- if you like this tradition, don't let my humbuggery interfere with your enjoyment of it.<br /><br />Hey Kuri!!!<br /><br />Of course -- how ever could I have missed that aspect! ;^)<br /><br />Hey Sabayon!!!<br /><br />To be honest, I hadn't really thought of that advantage. Growing up, my family always lived too far away from other relatives to get together each holiday, and I've continued this tradition as an adult. So I have no experience dealing with disputes over who hosts which holiday.<br /><br />I agree that working together to prepare the feast is fun. It's one of the details that showed up in the <a href="http://ex-mormon.net/orem-high/page-7-60.php" rel="nofollow">Thanksgiving chapter</a> of my novel. (I somehow missed mentioning the three pies, though.) Of course (depending on your interests) you can get a bit of the same effect working together on other creative holiday traditions. One of my favorites is decorating gingerbread houses together!<br /><br />Hey Sam-I-Am!!!<br /><br />I'm totally in agreement about taking time to reflect on the things in your life that you appreciate and feel good about. You're right about it improving one's outlook on life, contentment, etc.<br /><br />My objection is marking it with a <i>feast</i> -- and in particular, one that celebrates how my family's advantages were built on how the European settlers dealt with the people whose land they (how to put this euphemistically?) um, "settled".<br /><br />Where's the zen in that? Let's have the family celebrate our joy and contentment in life by having a family yoga session! <br />(I'm only half kidding...)<br /><br />I've had this same problem with turning to other familiar traditions to appreciate where I'm at rather than stressing about what I don't have. The following song comes to mind:<br /><br /><i>When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,<br />when you are discouraged thinking all is lost,<br />Count your many blessings, name them one by one,<br />and it will surprise you....</i><br /><br />etc. How to be content with where I'm at, <i>without</i> bringing in traditions and ideas I don't agree with...?<br /><br />IMHO, we <i>should</i> have a holiday about the Zen of appreciating your life as it stands. But if it's going to be a made-up holiday <i>anyway</i>, I think we can retire this defective model and invent a better one.C. L. Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698855413639518095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-69586472413463929192009-11-28T13:08:22.517-08:002009-11-28T13:08:22.517-08:00I disagree with your perspective on gratitude. I ...I disagree with your perspective on gratitude. I think it is not at all about comparison, in fact it's stepping back from Americans' usual attitude of keeping up/getting ahead/working ceaselessly and being zen, in the moment, and giving thanks for that which you do have. And I seem to recall (from before gratitude journals got Oprah-fied) that gratitude leads to positive emotional outcomes like contentment, less depression, etc.<br /><br />I made a Thanksgiving playlist that reflected this notion. Songs that explicitly expressed thanks, and others that had that notion of zen, and it's remarkably mood-lifting.sam-i-amhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15048236713688627243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-29231443046857272412009-11-28T12:56:56.044-08:002009-11-28T12:56:56.044-08:00I can't help but think you are missing the who...I can't help but think you are missing the whole point of Thanksgiving, to whit, so that there are two major "family" holidays only a month apart where you eat practically the same meal allowing couples to switch whose family they see for which and avoiding untold numbers of stupid fights. Based on casual observation it seems like most Europeans still observe advent and all the various Christmas-related holidays that they can observe with various branches of their family. I mean, my host family was Jewish and they still celebrated Christmas, St. Nicklaus day, and the epiphany.<br /><br />Anyway, not that I terribly miss it when I'm not around, but I kind of like Thanksgiving. Mostly I enjoy spending the day in the kitchen with my mom and sister, ostensibly cooking but mostly eating chips and dip and gossiping. Also you can't argue with three different kinds of pie. You just can't.Varinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09514410260798360800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19053670.post-42541419465541986382009-11-28T12:23:40.420-08:002009-11-28T12:23:40.420-08:00"Special occasions should be marked by doing ..."Special occasions should be marked by doing something different, that you don't do every single friggin' day."<br /><br />But we <i>do</i> do something different on Thanksgiving: eat turkey and cranberry sauce.kurihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05945400924271622826noreply@blogger.com