Happy Thanksgiving From the Future

Just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Actually, there are another 36 minutes to go before it is officially Thursday here, but I tend to be early.

I wrote a post today at work and then deleted it when I got home. It was up for about 8 hours, so I am curious if I caught it before anyone read it. I decided it was too whiny and pathetic for the day before Thanksgiving. Because this is a day that we aren't supposed to complain, but a day to give thanks.

And thus, instead of whiny and pathetic you get the cheesy and sappy holiday thanks list (in no particular order, but no. 1 is actually no.1):

1. I am thankful that I have a large network of friends and family all around the world who love me and make me laugh (and put up with my complaining!).

2. I am thankful that I have a job that is pretty darn close to what I want to be doing with my life and that it enables me to put food on the table and bandages on my bike injuries.

3. I am thankful that I can ride a bike because, to be honest, I'm not a very good driver.

4. I am thankful that I can admit I'm not a very good driver.

5. I am thankful for coffee.

6. I am thankful for the diversity that exists in the world.

7. I am thankful that the four great ape species have not gone extinct, yet, and that the DRCongo just recently created a national park the size of Massachusetts to protect bonobos.

8. I am thankful for art and its ability to make things beautiful.

9. I am thankful for this computer, without which I would surely go insane.

10. I am thankful that some people are trying to do good things and improve the world because it could use some work (see any newspaper for proof).

And I wrote that list after watching Monster on DVD. I'm skilled like that.

I'm off to the Intercontinental for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night. I'm trying to decide if I should smuggle my camera in to take the requisite Thanksgiving feast photos. I hope they have vegetarian stuffing. I'll definitely be practicing my "don't ask don't tell" rule for hidden meat.

For my readers outside of the U.S. (as I'm very big in Germany according to Google Analytics): Thanksgiving is celebrated in the U.S. on the forth Thursday in November. It is a day that the entire country gives thanks for our blessings (it is not necessarily a religious holiday). The first Thanksgiving, celebrated in 1621 (though not an official holiday until 1941), was a three-day feast to celebrate a good harvest. We learn in school that is was a lovely day of peace with the pilgrims and the Native Americans sharing their bounty with each other. And, just so you know, turkey was not necessarily on the menu.

Today we celebrate with a huge meal that generally has the same components (though devotees of Martha Stewart and Emeril like to mix it up a bit) a large whole turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (no marshmallows for me, but some people like them that way), corn, some sort of green vegetable, some sort of bread, stuffing (made from bread crumbs, celery, a million spices, nuts, soup and other things. We used to be put the stuffing inside the turkey to cook until we found out that could kill us -- now people cook it separately, which works out better for the vegetarians at the table), cranberry sauce (preferably not from a can -- are you reading this Jimbo?), pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and several others dishes that use too much butter. Other than cooking, the day is also spent watching parades and American football. Oh and washing dishes.