Happy Thanksgiving
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ziggy_encaoua
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Thanksgiving
It is a time to be thankful for what we have been given. Including but not limited to health, home , matters of the heart and finances. for the bounty of this land. Originaly the pilgrims gave thanks for landing in this country alive and for food to eat. We have been blessed. Knappen 
knappen
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crfriend
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Thank you, Ziggy, and I'd like to amplify the sentiment for the other folks in the US of A.
Merlin -- Thanksgiving is celebrated here to commemorate the "Pilgrims'" (a rather nasty set of religious zealots who bailled from England in the early seventeenth century) survival of their first year in the New World. Even though Plymouth (Massachusetts, where they came ashore) is roughly at the same latitude as Rome, the weather here is positively awful during the winter; a good number of the original contingent perished over the course of that first winter and the celebration at the first successful autumn harvest gave rise to what's celebrated now.
Of course, having blowouts during "cr*p times of the year" is always a good idea and helps people muddle through the dark, cold, and wet of winter. Christmas (the Roman Saturnalia and Wiccan celebration of the Winter Solstice) is another one -- and given the timing, coincides very closely to when our forebears would have begun noticing the days getting longer, and I can't think of a better reason for a big old bash!
Merlin -- Thanksgiving is celebrated here to commemorate the "Pilgrims'" (a rather nasty set of religious zealots who bailled from England in the early seventeenth century) survival of their first year in the New World. Even though Plymouth (Massachusetts, where they came ashore) is roughly at the same latitude as Rome, the weather here is positively awful during the winter; a good number of the original contingent perished over the course of that first winter and the celebration at the first successful autumn harvest gave rise to what's celebrated now.
Of course, having blowouts during "cr*p times of the year" is always a good idea and helps people muddle through the dark, cold, and wet of winter. Christmas (the Roman Saturnalia and Wiccan celebration of the Winter Solstice) is another one -- and given the timing, coincides very closely to when our forebears would have begun noticing the days getting longer, and I can't think of a better reason for a big old bash!
Retrocomputing -- It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
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Departed Member
Thanks for that info, Carl et al! That must have been the first truly all-American (my apologies to native Americans - I know they have their own celebrations!) festival. Our only November 'party' in the UK, used to be Guy Fawkes (fireworks, bonfires) night on November 5th (complete with hot food - barbeque style, toffee apples, punch, etc.), but this now seems to run nightly, from mid October 'til the 5th itself, which rather spoils the whole thing as a significant event!
Merlin,
I well understand the "extension" of holidays. In theUS we have the whole notion of "Advent" Which stretches "Christmas" from the first Sunday in December to December 25th. That paired with "Black Friday" (today) until December 25th to the after Christmas sales thru the end of January, makes for a retail circus.
I find it interesting that in the UK the celebration surrounding Samhain and Guy Fawkes day should be carried out for so long. I understand that it is seductive to extend holidays, but Samhain and Guy Fawkes are unrelated events.
DO you think that the whole Guy Fawkes thing is being used as cover for proper celebration of Samhain?
Still, in the US the glut of festivities between the end of October and the beginning of January tends to dilute the meaning and purpose of all the holidays involved.
Still, we tend to regard Samhain as a somber event, Thansksgiving as a day off and an excuse to have a feast, Advent as a time of lovely decorations. We feel more strongly about the solstice.
Having been raised by Christian parents with a sense of history and archaelogy, I don't regard December 25th as anything other than a marketing ploy by the early christian church to attract non-Christians, but it is a day off.
SO let us celebrate our holidays, and enjoy our days off.
We have so little time for celebration, why not take every opportunity to have fun, feast and make merry?
I well understand the "extension" of holidays. In theUS we have the whole notion of "Advent" Which stretches "Christmas" from the first Sunday in December to December 25th. That paired with "Black Friday" (today) until December 25th to the after Christmas sales thru the end of January, makes for a retail circus.
I find it interesting that in the UK the celebration surrounding Samhain and Guy Fawkes day should be carried out for so long. I understand that it is seductive to extend holidays, but Samhain and Guy Fawkes are unrelated events.
DO you think that the whole Guy Fawkes thing is being used as cover for proper celebration of Samhain?
Still, in the US the glut of festivities between the end of October and the beginning of January tends to dilute the meaning and purpose of all the holidays involved.
Still, we tend to regard Samhain as a somber event, Thansksgiving as a day off and an excuse to have a feast, Advent as a time of lovely decorations. We feel more strongly about the solstice.
Having been raised by Christian parents with a sense of history and archaelogy, I don't regard December 25th as anything other than a marketing ploy by the early christian church to attract non-Christians, but it is a day off.
SO let us celebrate our holidays, and enjoy our days off.
We have so little time for celebration, why not take every opportunity to have fun, feast and make merry?
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Since1982
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oops
Hold on a bit there Merlin, just because YOU don't like November doesn't automatically make it a cr*p time of year. I, for one, was BORN on November first and that makes it MY favorite time of year. Every November I make it to means another YEAR I've made it successfully through. Personally, I'd much rather see as many Novembers as possible. Come to think of it, no matter what month is your birth month, seeing another November means we've all gotten another year down the line.merlin wrote:at a cr*p time of year (November = yeuk!),
Please, try to be upbeat. It really can't hurt anything, can it??
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Story of Life, Perspire, Expire, Funeral Pyre!I've been skirted part time since 1972 and full time since 2005. http://skirts4men.myfreeforum.org/
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Re: oops
Yes, I'm sorry about that, Skip! I do understand your viewpoint, really I do!Since1982 wrote: Hold on a bit there Merlin, just because YOU don't like November doesn't automatically make it a cr*p time of year. I, for one, was BORN on November first and that makes it MY favorite time of year. Every November I make it to means another YEAR I've made it successfully through.
For our family, it has invariably been a month of sorrow. For instance, my father expired on the night of Nov 5th/6th when I was but 15 years, and it was a dreadful reminder every year thereafter for both my mother and I.
No, not at all. It has continued for so long in the manner it has, to re-inforce the fact that the UK is (sorry, was!) a "Christian" country, not a "Catholic" one. Ironically, this fact has been lost with the winds of time, and the biggest bonfire event locally nowadays is that run by the local Catholic Club! (Mmnn, bit like the Catholic witch hunts of the middle ages - I'd better continue to stay indoors on Nov 5ths in future, methinks!Sapphire wrote:DO you think that the whole Guy Fawkes thing is being used as cover for proper celebration of Samhain?
)Halloween/Samhain was starting to steadily regain ground, but media 'exposure' (hype!
) that it's "an American festival" has caused a massive decline, partly due to 'excesses', in some parts, re - "Trick or Treating", but mostly due to anti-American feeling due to the "Iraq Situation". No doubt there are those who would dispute this, but I can only go on what I hear folk say, as I no longer read newspapers due to the volume of lies they tell in respect of subjects I have more than a little knowledge of!