***~~~*** Daily REFLECTIONS ***~~~*** November 18, 19, 20, 2008
Getting Ready for the All American Holiday ~~ Thanksgiving
The Theme for these Reflections is for Thanksgiving, one of our most favorite of Holidays!
Special GITS for these days are: EVERY ONE OF US WHO MANAGE TO CHECK IN!!!
Cousin Reginald Catches the Thanksgiving Turkey - 1917
Thankful Pilgrims
Looking back approaching 400 years one can see why those first Pilgrims had a lot to be thankful for. Their boat, the Mayflower, made it across the Atlantic Ocean. We can only ponder how many perished in similar boats before their success. And indeed we can think of all those boats which have been lost with all hands since. The Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620 can be grateful that Iroquois Native Americans were not more numerous and more belligerent.
The Pilgrims who sailed on the Mayflower were members of the English Separatist Church (a Puritan sect). They fled from persecution in England and took the opportunity of a better life in America. Puritans negotiated with a London stock company to finance the pilgrimage to America. However, 2/3 of those aboard the Mayflower were not Separatists, they just went along for the adventure and the opportunity.
That first winter on 1620 was severe and by the fall of 1621 almost half of the original 102 settlers had died of hardship. However, the vegetables were new to the Pilgrims and they needed help from the Iroquois Indians to grow crops such as maize and pumpkins. Thanks to the skill of native Indians like Squanto, and good fortune, the harvest of 1621 was bountiful.
Governor William Bradford famously sent 'four men fowling'. They returned with deer, wild ducks and geese. While they probably did not have turkey as we know it, the Pilgrims coined the word 'turkey' as a generic term for any wild fowl. The resulting feast was more like an English harvest festival than a true Thanksgiving observance.
A VERY SPECIAL ONE WORD for each one of us....
First,
AMERICA GITS THREE WORDS: Enthusiasm ~~~ Optimistic ~~~ Rest
Gemstone ~~~ Satisfaction
Peter Dierks ~~~ Energetic
SECRET BUTTERFLY ~~~ Victorious
COUNTRY BOB ~~~ Celebrate
E'LANE ~~~ Health
MANYMOOSE ~~~ Purity
HONOR FIRST ~~~ Dependable
STILL BELIEVING ~~~ Play
NEEKA ~~~ Kindness
CAROLYN ~~~ Joy
GOLDWORLDNET ~~~ Learn
RAINY DAY WOMAN ~~~ Pleasure
TIM FOWLER ~~~ Helpful
ISH ~~~ Honesty
Laz ~~~ Love
NHAYNES ~~~ Beauty
SARKIE ~~~ Artistic
KLP ~~~ Humility
ALAN SMITHEE ~~~ Passion
GLOOP ~~~ Achieve
KEN ADAMS ~~~Appreciation
RICHARD RED ~~~ Conscious
LADYLURKSALOT ~~~ Relaxation
SANDINTOES ~~~Tactful
JOHN CARRAGHER ~~~ Abundance
ORAL ROBERTS ~~~ Courageous
JUSTIN C ~~~ Respect
GLENN PETERSON ~~~ Respect
SMOOTHSAIL ~~~ Flexible
JeffA ~~~ Efficiency
Word for a New GIT who wants one ~~ Prosperous
Note to Missing GITS ~~~ GIT your Minds, Hands, and Body back here, ya’ hear?
The First Thanksgiving
Below is Jennie Brownscombe's interpretation of the Pilgrim Fathers celebrating the First Thanksgiving. This picture has become a symbol of Thanksgiving and was printed in Life magazine
Some Funnies for The Day:
>>>>>>It was just before Thanksgiving in Walmart and a woman was anxiously picking over the last few remaining turkeys in the hope of finding a large one.
In desperation she called over a shop assistant and said, 'Excuse me. Do these turkeys get any bigger?'
'No, madam, 'he replied, 'they're all dead.'<<<<<
>>>>>Why the Pilgrim's pants always falling down?
Because they wore their buckles in their hats.<<<<<
>>>>>'I was going to serve sweet potatoes with Thanksgiving dinner, but I sat on them.'
'So what are you serving now?'
'Squash<<<<<
Picture for Today:
Ode to Thanksgiving
May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!
The Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving
It may be I am getting old and like too much to dwell
Upon the days of bygone years, the days I loved so well;
But thinking of them now I wish somehow that I could know
A simple old Thanksgiving Day, like those of long ago,
When all the family gathered round a table richly spread,
With little Jamie at the foot and grandpa at the head,
The youngest of us all to greet the oldest with a smile,
With mother running in and out and laughing all the while.
It may be I'm old-fashioned, but it seems to me to-day
We're too much bent on having fun to take the time to pray;
Each little family grows up with fashions of its own;
It lives within a world itself and wants to be alone.
It has its special pleasures, its circle, too, of friends;
There are no get-together days; each one his journey wends,
Pursuing what he likes the best in his particular way,
Letting the others do the same upon Thanksgiving Day.
I like the olden way the best, when relatives were glad
To meet the way they used to do when I was but a lad;
The old home was a rendezvous for all our kith and kin,
And whether living far or near they all came trooping in
With shouts of 'Hello, daddy!' as they fairly stormed the place
And made a rush for mother, who would stop to wipe her face
Upon her gingham apron before she kissed them all,
Hugging them proudly to her breast, the grownups and the small.
Then laughter rang throughout the home, and, Oh, the jokes they told;
From Boston, Frank brought new ones, but father sprang the old;
All afternoon we chatted, telling what we hoped to do,
The struggles we were making and the hardships we'd gone through;
We gathered round the fireside. How fast the hours would fly-
It seemed before we'd settled down 'twas time to say good-bye.
Those were the glad Thanksgivings, the old-time families knew
When relatives could still be friends and every heart was true.
Poem by Edgar Albert Guest, 1881-1959 |
