Giving thanks where due

I have always been content with buying into the spirit of Thanksgiving. Driven by the argument about the origin of the story and holiday, I looked it up today and saw that the American interpretation and tradition do, in fact, come from the Plymouth settlers learning the proper ways to harvest, store, and prep for the winters of the unfamiliar land from Squanto and his peeps. And they got together and ate a hella-ton of food and sat around watching the New England Patriots play the Redskins or something like that. Maybe that came later.

All joking aside though. I think that this is one holiday about which we should not to be so cynical. It was the spirit of a time in which the relationship between these two small groups of people, newcomers and residents, had such great potential. People with such utterly different understandings of the world sat down to break bread. It is especially poignant after this weeks spectacle at the airport. Such great levels of distrust, especially for people who believe in the same God... crazy... And the Imams were here on a conference about inter-faith dialogue. I think that the conversation has ended before it had a chance to begin.

But moving on...

In our daily lives, how often do we take the time to reflect (if you actually do that on this day) on the things that deserve our thanks? Unless you still hold hands around the table before eating, likely never. So please take time today to express your appreciation for what you have got and find a way to give others something new for which to give thanks. Speak them to the sky if you must, they will find their way home.









Oh, yeah... the links:

The Music links are Amos Lee (whom we saw in concert in Saturday.), Corrine Bailey Rae (an R&B singer from the UK with hints of Badu), and the Bad Plus (who I saw perform a month or so ago).

The websites are Pitchfork, an on-line music magazine with download-able tracks and album reviews which I have only browsed as of yet, and Vita.mn, a twin cities culture publication put out somewhat discretely by the Star Tribune. It is supposed to be user driven, though, so it may become worth more than the Today section of the newspaper.

And finally, the picture is of Emily and I on Halloween night. Next year, I think I am going to go for something creepy... well, creepier than Bob Ross, at least.