Ah, I love Thanksgiving here in the US.

I probably love it most because it is a celebration of the harvest season and marks the time just after the end of the growing season. Most often, if not always, we've had our first frost here in Virginia. There's something deeply symbolic about celebrating the harvest and giving thanks that there has been a harvest to celebrate.

And there is such richness in the food traditionally offered:

pumpkins
squash
dressing
gravy
cranberries--wow! so strong!
huge turkeys (most people I know serve breasts instead of doing the whole bird)
all kinds of pies (one family I know has over 12 different types of pies)
succotash

...and so on. Nothing really new up there in my list, but those offerings to the Thanksgiving crowd seem so rich, plentiful, and colorful. I suppose that somehow by seeing so much, I feel the fulness of the harvest. And I like having the day to be focused on the harvest and the national gratitude for it.

Fortunately, I haven't seen a Santa with a blunderbuss in his hands, but that sure doesn't mean it ain't happenin' somewhere!

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to everybody who's celebrating it, whether feeding the homeless or greeting friends and family who've traveled near and far to be thankful together.