The first Thanksgiving is attributed to the Pilgrims back in 1621. For the Pilgrims the day was meant to be a day of prayer of thanks as part of their religion. We should be thankful to the Wampanoags for the eating part of Thanksgiving day. The Pilgrims celebrated the completion of a harvest with about 53 Pilgrims in attendance and around 90 Native Americans joined the Pilgrims on that first Thanksgiving.

It is uncertain when we started eating Turkey for Thanksgiving. The legend is that Queen Elizabeth on the day the Brits defeated the Spanish in their battle against the Spanish Armada, was so pleased that she ordered up a goose to celebrate the victory.

A Pilgrim by the name of Winslow is reputed to have gone hunting for fowl to be part of the dinner. The local tribe liked to eat beef and fowl. So Mr. Winslow hunted down a turkey rather than a goose, and there we have it. At least it makes for a good story.

In later days, one of our founders, Benjamin Franklin wanted to make the wild turkey our national bird rather than the bald eagle. Smarter than the domesticated turkey, one just does not know how it would have worked out if we were going to eat a national bird on Thanksgiving.

Nevertheless, we are estimated to now eat around 40 million or so turkeys on our special Thanksgiving day. Other fowl such as a goose or a guinea hen are eaten in some quarters. I am not sure what vegetarians eat for their main course, but it matters not. What is important is the principle that upon which our holiday exist. It is a day of thanks, above all.

It has become a very uniquely American holiday where families and friends gather together to give thanks. A feast has become part of the day’s festivities so please diet before you have your turkey!!!

Personally I really love the cranberry sauce, that goes with the turkey. It just adds a special wake up taste to your taste buds.

In recent years, regretfully, early Christmas bargains have become part of the weekend’s activities, even to the point of having stores open on Thanksgiving. The public has resented this intrusion into the sanctity of a day of thanks and fewer stores will be open on the holiday this year. I will celebrate this return to sanity.  After all, we have every kind of opportunity to shop til we drop on other days. It is healthy for our families and friends to devote at least one day when we can gather together to be thankful for the blessings that we each have.

For all of you out there, on the web, enjoy Thanksgiving and your friends and loved ones. Let us hope and pray that each person out there has a moment to be thankful for on Thursday and every day. PEACE!!!!