Thanx Gimme

Thanksgiving is that certain time of year we reflect on our good fortunes (as robustly bountiful as they may be for some or as thin a silver lining as they may be for others) and gorge to toast our enthusiasm on high-fat tradiitonal American foods. Now I do love to hang with friends and/ or family and do just that. I love thanksgiving's indulgence, its community appeal with a lack of overt religious meaning, and its concomitant menu of gigantic poultry, grains, tubers, butter, and turkey fat that is saved from visual monochromaticism by the odd splash of red cranberry or orange pumpkin & yam. Sarah & I, in fact, attended a spectacular spread with some lovely friends and acquaintances and we all had one hell of a time with laughter, overeating, four kinds of stuffing ( half my fault), and even a pop music singalong (it's amazing how many melodies we all know and how few of the lyrics). A grand time was had by all hands and stomachs.

But...

I have a few friends who eschew the celebrations of this holiday since it is based on historical events that led to the ravage of a people--y'all may at times recall them from the vestiges of their language utilized for state names and various models of cars, or the casinoes and reservations. You may have seen their culture misrepresented in films, books, and tv shows or coopted for its application to diverse new age aesthetics when uesful as such. Thus the complete and unencumbered embrace of all aspects of Thanksgiving requires a certain share of cognitve dissonance. For that matter cognitive dissonances attend many joyous occasions in these mixed up times of war and woes which go back...hmmm. Centuries.

Is the cup two thirds empty after all? Or?

Well, I do tip my hat to those who observe and make us ponder (as we should) the empty part of the cup. And for you other lusty souls..uh... are you gonna eat that? Thanks! Gimme!