NEWSLETTER FROM AMERICA

November in the U.S. is all about entering into the holiday season. You will hear people talking about it “being November already,” and “where does the time go?” What they mean is another busy but wonderful holiday season is fast approaching. The little ones have just celebrated Halloween and now before we know it we’ll be gathering with friends and family for traditional Thanksgiving feasts. Without saying so, we’re all thinking that Christmas can’t be far behind. Women will begin calculating the number of shopping days left until that big day!

Thanksgiving is, of course, about looking back to the early days of our young nation’s history and to the historic first Thanksgiving celebrated by the pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indian tribe in 1621. It is a harvest festival to be sure, but more importantly it marks a time of great blessing and of new beginnings. It celebrates a new way of life in a new world. For a nicely done video from the History Channel on Thanksgiving see:
http://www.history.com

Since Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday, families look forward to a four day weekend to be with friends and family. The New York City Macy’s Day parade with all its Disney characters is a kid favorite. Wouldn’t you know the last float in the parade always brings our first viewing of Santa!

We love to include our children in the planning and decorating for Thanksgiving Day. School children make turkeys of all sorts to bring home as table favors for the big day. Here are some other sites with ideas to get the kids busy with Thanksgiving arts and crafts:
http://holidays.kaboose.com
http://www.thanksgivingworld.com

When the table favors, name place tags and decorations are all finished, the children might also enjoy some Thanksgiving puzzles and games:
http://iteslj.org/cw/1/af-thanks.html

As Thanksgiving day arrives the family will gather, preparations will be made and the big feast will be enjoyed. Traditionally “turkey with all the trimmings” means roast turkey, bread stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, several vegetables, cranberry sauce, home made rolls and for dessert, pumpkin pie. Women’s magazines are chock full with recipes to try something new and tasty each year, but most families look forward to these tried and true favorites each Thanksgiving.

Being thankful, counting our blessings, is the heart of these family gatherings and many families take time to go around the dining room table to share the things they are grateful for. This is one time that the elder members of the family are able to model and teach the younger ones how to be mindful of all the bounty we enjoy and to realize that no matter what our circumstances, there are always others who have less. We give thanks.