Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Our Canadian Thanksgiving

With a little time available after the weekend and before our company comes to visit, I want to post a short blog about Thanksgiving before I leave you for a few more days. I do this because the comments on my previous blog reveal that my American friends find it terribly odd to conceive of Thanksgiving being celebrated at this time of year. In Canada, we always celebrate it now, specifically on the second Monday of October. It's one of the major holidays of the year, the others being Easter, Canada Day (July 01), August Civic Holiday (first Monday in August), Labour Day, and, of course, Christmas and New Year.


So, why do we observe it now? Simply, I think, because we are pretty well at the end of the harvest season. This was the time to be thankful that provender was laid up for the winter. It seems to me a good thing that we celebrate Thanksgiving when we do, even in present times when very few of us live off the land. That's because we are still very aware of the time of year because it is now that the trees turn colour ever so brilliantly. Indeed the drive to Riverwood and back was resplendent with the vibrant seasonal hues, for we are now at or extremely close to peak colour. Some trees are still green, but as they turn colour, their comrades will drop theirs, so the view will most likely decrease and not vice versa. The weather was cloudy this year, so I don't have current photos to post, but I did publish a few on my blog last year (here and here) and on my own website (here and here) the year before.


It's a big holiday; families make an effort to get together, not to the same extent as over the longer Christmas holidays, but more so than at any other holiday. We usually do turkey, just as we also do at Christmas. People who shuffle between two families usually have two turkey dinners. In our case we had our own turkey dinner at home with the kids on Saturday and another at our in-laws' on Sunday. At home, we generally have a cheesy potato casserole with the turkey, as well as roasted sweet potatoes and roasted carrots. Personally, I'm extremely fond of the stuffing and gravy. For dessert, we'll normally have pumpkin pie; if we're going all out (which we didn't this year), we might also have an apple pie.


I am thankful for many things, but, in particular this year, I rejoice that we are near Butterfly and The Boy and not seven hours away. And I really rejoice that Ladybug survived the summer's bicycle wipeout (read about it here and here). I trust that you all have your own reasons to rejoice, for we have pretty well lucked out, living in our lands of plenty where our needs are pretty well met and many of our wants too.




As a special bonus, I present this photo which I took from our bedroom window on Saturday evening, the day we celebrated Thanksgiving at our house. The foreground view, with wires and buildings and such, isn't to die for, but I think that the sky is ... to die for. I did underexpose the photo somewhat, just to darken it and make it more dramatic, but that was done when I took the picture and not in post-processing.



 

17 comments:

Christi said...

I'm so glad you had a good Thanksgiving. I haven't even thought about ours yet. I still have to make it through Halloween!

That pic is Awesome! My favorite part of nature is the sky, and all of the neat things it does.

Meadow said...

Stunning.

Sounds like you're having a great time! :)

Bonita said...

I'm glad you found time to write between your celebrations - and to post a photo. Isn't it annoying when the weather isn't cooperative to get a great photo! Good that you shared a previous one...

Madcap said...

I've been sneaking peeks at your site for a while now, but that photo is so dramatic I can't stay hidden anymore. It looks almost apocalyptic! You have to look hard for the wires.

I really like what you've got going around here. Of course, you're Canadian, so that endears you to me right there - I find most of my contacts in Bloggerie are in the U.S.

PBS said...

We should actually have Thanksgiving Day earlier here, too. We've already harvested just about everything.

-epm said...

A belated "Happy Thanksgiving" to you and yours.

With the American Thanksgiving mere weeks before Chirstmas, we tend to mush the two into one giant, five-week binge of eating, shopping and general buoyant frivolity. So much so that it's a bit of a let down come New Years.

I've had to shovel the driveway on more than one late November Thanksgiving, so I'm all for moving ours back to a date more agriculturally applicable, but my real gripe is Christmas on 25 December. I, for one, really need an emotional boost in the middle of winter, not right on the heels of a warm and fuzzy family holiday like Thanksgiving. I think we should move Christmas to Groundhog Day (2 Feb), if for no other reason than we'd have a better chance of having a white Christmas.

Valerie - Still Riding Forward said...

One of my favorite things is the tree line silloetted against the evening sky or the morning light.

Lovely!

Anonymous said...

What a stunning sky!

Iona said...

Happy Thanksgiving.
Dang, what a picture! Great shot! Amazing sky!

Lora said...

Sounds like Thanksgiving to me and it certainly makes sense to have it a little earlier in your cooler clime. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

Dee said...

Oh, that is a great photo. I wante to wish you a happy thanksgiving. I was in a chat room and some of my friends were talking about thanksgiving and I thought what the?....then I realized it was the canadian thanksgiving. Actually I think you all have the right idea about celebating it now. Ours is too late in the year, often too cold, and the roads are bad for those who travel. It is also two close to christmas.

Keith "Nurse Keith" Carlson, RN, BSN, NC-BC said...

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friend!

Even though the American Thanksgiving is a day of mourning for many Native Americans, it is still my favorite holiday, along with New Year's Day. I love that it is centered around togetherness and giving thanks without any trappings of undue commerciality or obligatory gift-giving. It can be a cozy time, even if, like us, you eat Tofu instead of turkey!

Valerie - Still Riding Forward said...

Hey anvil, see question at
http://forwardho.blogspot.com/2005/10/everybody-is-star.html

SquirrleyMojo said...

very nice pic--nice tilt

Dale said...

Nice pic, AC. It is to live for. Yup. To live for. Happy Thanksgiving!

Gina said...

I am so glad you had a great time!

Norma said...

Lovely photo. What is Civic Holiday? How is it celebrated?