Thanksgiving

One constant feature of Thanksgiving is the news story or TV show telling us that the first Thanksgiving wasn't the way we think it was. Pilgrim customs are debunked, American Indian tribal customs are discussed, the timeline is proven to be impossible, the weather was wrong, the food is wrong. But it doesn't matter. Every year we put on a feast on this Thursday, we sit down with family and friends and the gratitude for nature's beauty, bounty, and love we feel is real.

The Thanksgiving story may have no historical accuracy at all but the legend persists because it is good and powerful. On a mythical day at the beginning of our nation, European and Indian sat down together to share the nutritious wealth of the land. The turkey ran wild, squash was cultivated, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, the earth was ripe with the fall harvest, and in our idealistic imagination at least people of all types sat down together to enjoy the abundance of nature in peace.

We won't intellectualize it or politicize it, our houses will smell richly of good food and resonate with chatter and laughter, the clatter of pans, by evening we will be leaning back, overstuffed and satisfied. And that's the way it should be. It is a perfect American day, Thanksgiving. Enjoy your day.