I've never been a fan of the holiday as far as I can remember. And I recall long ago people finding that strange because I liked to eat. But I think my earlier childhood rejections of the holiday had to do with having off from school, but dedicating the day to family matters. It wasn't until perhaps high school where after family was taken care of I might be able to leave the house after 8pm to hang out with friends. What was I giving thanks for if I still wasn't able to do what I wanted on that day?
But now that I am older, and don't live near my family, you would think I'd get to do what I want on that day and be grateful. No. Usually people like to make their Thanksgiving celebration take a good part of the day. So maybe you can go on a dawn patrol in the morning before having to be at someone's house by 2pm. You could get a legitimate tour or hike in if you only needed to arrive after 5pm. So I don't get to give thanks for having a day in the mountains.
But in all honesty, turkey is usually a pretty boring meal. And most people over cook it, or don't brine it, and only the dark meat ends up juicy. Not particularly enjoyable. Sides are often hit or miss. And to top it off, pumpkin is one of my least favorite dessert pies. (And I don't have a recollection of even liking it before high school.)
Today we went and played in the snow and then Jennifer made pork ribs, mac and cheese and brussel sprouts for our Thanksgiving dinner. So much to be thankful for! And to top it off we headed over to a friends for dessert and had Marionberry pie, pecan pie and ice cream. Celebration.
So another dispute I have with Thanksgiving is that it is a harvest festival. And apparently before Abraham Lincoln set firm that it would be the third Thursday in November, many states celebrated it at different times. This makes sense, and is reinforced by the timing of Canadian Thanksgiving. The end of harvest in Maine or Michigan comes much earlier than the end of harvest in Georgia or Texas. Here in the Seattle, we still have kale and root veggies, but we may have them all winter. The summer harvest season ended a while ago and late November is not the time to celebrate all the wonders the earth has provided us.
Also, the meal that we mimic in this country to celebrate is usually of foods from the northeast like cranberries and turkey. In my new home of the Pacific Northwest, turkeys are not native, so why do we eat them? If we had to stick to a bird, perhaps the ptarmigan? But a proper Thanksgiving meal here should perhaps have salmon as the main protein. Although I don't know how many people would get behind salal berry sauce?
I had a good day today, and Jennifer and I along with Mirabelle will do our Thanksgiving tradition tomorrow morning. Head down to Carkeek Park and watch the salmon spawn. And Mirabelle and I will get to attend our Friendsgiving on Saturday while Jennifer works.
