THANKSGIVING - MINUS ONE

Yesterday's post about Thanksgiving encouraged some debate about when it all started. Tom and Phil both weighed in with historical perspectives of the Great Southwest celebrating Thanksgiving long before the Pilgrims and Puritans of New England.  Tom noted a Feast of Thanksgiving in New Mexico in 1598 following an arduous exploratory journey north from Mexico.  And Phil reminded us all that Santa Fe was an established town in New Mexico by the time the Pilgrims landed.

But wait!

A couple of Florida scholars say the first Thanksgiving actually was celebrated by Spaniards in what is now St. Augustine, Florida in 1565. (Presumably in Spanish, one of the official languages of Florida these days.)

So the debate goes on and on.  But it first became an official government mandated holiday way back in 1941 when President Franklin Roosevelt signed legislation (y'all remember legislation, don't you?) naming the fourth Thursday of November every year as the day we celebrate, eat ridiculously huge meals and, if we remember, give thanks.

And, so says Wikipedia and who would argue with them, modern day Thanksgiving goes back to those Calvinists in New England. Just never mind the Spaniards and Mexicans and Indians who went before.  

Kind of like how we tend to forget or ignore our history even today.

THANKSGIVING - MINUS TWO

Just because a group of stupid lawless renegades took advantage of a grand jury decision to loot stores and burn others out or to the ground last night should not take away from our celebration of Thanksgiving.

There is no common ground on when our Thanksgiving holiday was first marked.  It is generally assumed that it was the Puritans in Massachusetts who initiated a feast AND A FAST marking a day of thanks for . . . well, I guess, letting them survive in this new and sometimes unforgiving land.

But that was 1621 in the Plymouth Colony.  History tells us that the widespread habit of a Thanksgiving harvest festival did not widely take hold until the 1660's in New England.

Whatever.

It is a day when families gather together . . in modern times . . to overeat, indulge our familial grudges and watch football on humongous television screens.  (For which we are all thankful.)

So it's two days away.  Our frozen turkey (breast) is out on the counter beginning the long thaw.  SWMBO is off today to an earlier than usual lunch with the BRD and then a stop at Trader Joe's to pick up whatever else is needed for our feast.  Somewhere in the next couple of days I have been commissioned to make a pumpkin pie although the "little woman" will make a ginger snap crust for it to reside in.

I don't know about you but I'm already getting hungry.

I'll have more on this subject tomorrow.

TEMPERATURE'S RISIN'

High noon in my part of Arizona and, while the sun is shining, it's a bit nippy outside.

BUT, the high temperature on Thanksgiving Day is forecast to be 72 degrees Fahrenheit.

YAY!

How's your Thanksgiving Day going?

DENVER OMELET

I built and baked a Denver Omelet yesterday for the two of us for breakfast/brunch.

It came from a recipe in All Recipes magazine.  I didn't have the ham it called for so I substituted some bacon.  And I didn't have the green bell pepper so I substituted some mixed mini sweet peppers. But it was good and one of the best things about it is there's enough for not only Saturday but Sunday as well.  Bingo!  Two days breakfasts in one.

Now.  As we were finishing the second helping today, SWMBO said do you remember that I made this awhile back and you took pictures and blogged about it?  I had to admit my senior memory had lost it. But I searched and, lo and behold, there it was.  And only two months ago! If you'd like to see what I said then and get a better look at it, click right here.

Even so, I made it this time, all by my ownsome.  And again, it was delicious.

CIRCLE

Our beautiful red Maple tree . . . which someone told us recently is known as a Fire Maple around here . . .

. . has now lost nearly all of its leaves and is . . denuded.

Fortunately, at least for awhile, it has a neighbor that is in the height of it's golden haze before it drops its leaves.

All of which gives me an opportunity to post one of my favorite songs.  And, no, it's not Autumn Leaves.

That's the late (1942-1981) Harry Chapin doing one of his (and my) favorite songs.  Like those beautiful Maple leaves, I miss him.

FRIDAY FUNNIES

I'm going to start off today with a lesson in Hollywood science in the form of a pie chart.

Now moving right along to another type of science - archaeology.

Here are a couple on politics.

Then, of course, there are the blessings of the season.

Feeling sorry for yourself yet?

Maybe if he was just a bit older we could offer him a jigger of rum!

Speaking of pirates . . .

Since Thanksgiving is nearly upon us and the Christmas season is barking at its shoes, I guess it's not too late for New Year's Day and those damned  inevitable resolutions that will have been made, some of you us may need a place for help with them.

And finally, lest they claw the furniture to shreds . . . the cats!

Thanks to many contributors this week.  Have a fruitful weekend, folks, and always, always keep laughing.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

Although the house is decorated for Christmas and my uncle, Zenas (far left) was visiting from San Francisco, this was a less than happy time.  I was 12 years old and recovering from surgery and a hospital stay for a ruptured appendix.  I still had a drain tube and had to be carried downstairs from my room to join the rest of the family.

Next to Uncle Zenas is my mother, my grandfather and my father. My older brother took the picture.

1952.  Not a very good year.