It's the day before Thanksgiving and I am home, doing my share of cleaning the yard, deck, etc., as we have family here tomorrow.  I even made a run to Safeway but retreated soon after; it was jammed at noon and not everybody in there was smiling. 

The ones who were happy made me think, as I do annually, that Thanksgiving is the best holiday of the year, at least for me . . . mostly because it is not commercialized like some of the others.  It is mostly a time for gathering of family and friends, and thanking God or whatever you believe in that your group can gather for a meal.  My elderly Mom sends us a Thanksgiving card every year, but she is the only one who bought into that Hallmark-created moment.  No one exchanges gifts, unless you count the occasional bottle of wine or dessert contributed to the festivities.

It is true that many eat too much, some watch too much football on television, and not all branches of the family tree like being seated next to each other, or holding hands for grace.  Overall, though, it seems to bring families closer together, and even most acquaintences will wish you a "Happy Thanksgiving."  There is no trumped up War On Thanksgiving, Bill.  I do think stores should give their workers a break and close that day, if at all possible.   

Further, even though one could argue that it is a particularly Christian holiday, thanks to the Pilgrims, it seems to cover all Americans, no matter where you came from, or your religion.  We all know people of various faiths who do the same things on Thanksgiving we do.

From what I recall about history, no one really knows exactly when that first celebratory meal was, or exactly who was there, or even what they ate.  The Pilgrims ate a lot of fish, being close to pristine waters, and so it is likely they had fish, or picked-up clams along the shore to have with the meal.

I would like to think that Massasoit brought the corn and had a good time, although we will never know for sure.  I once lived on "Massasoit Avenue," in Massachusetts, not too far from Plymouth.  The vision of that fits in with the theme of cooperation and sharing.  It's what we want to believe.  Anyway, the natives had no idea how many more invaders there were across the sea who would come and drive them off.  We can ignore the rest of the "settler" history for one day.

If I also recall, it was A. Lincoln who created the holiday, or proclaimed it, in those times before federal-worker three-day weekends were popular.  But seeing how that is true, and that no one knows what day of the week or month the first Thanksgiving might have been, it would be okay with me to move this day to the next Friday.  Why not?  We would have the same chance of guessing the right day as we have now, one in seven, and then we can give Thanks for another three-day weekend.  Have a good one.

--KZ