Happy Turkey Day!

Well I meant to post the day after Thanksgiving, but my citizenship of Procrasta Nation detained me... Here's what I wrote Nov. 25.

Thanksgiving! A platter of turkey, a bowl of soft mashed potatoes, steaming gravy, rutabega (could do without that...), rolls, and of course, Pumpkin Pie! With plenty of whipped cream of course.

It makes me wonder... why don't people in fantasy fiction get Thanksgiving? They must have something to give thanks for! I don't really come across many holidays while reading fantasy. Now, I've seen plenty of "Market Days" and Spring Fests and such, but really, how do they get by without holidays? Poor deprived people. :)

As a matter of fact, I recently read a book, Dragonfly by Julia Golding, that had holidays! I can't exactly remember, but it had something to do with the turning of the seasons. A holiday at the beginning of the new year that was a mix between New Years and Christmas. I thought that was clever! But I think there is still something missing.

It would be wrong, somehow, to have Thanksgiving without knowing Who you were thanking. I read an article the other day in which a few authors were being interviewed. They all had written a book about gratefulness or thankfulness. None of them mentioned Who they were thanking. Here is the summary of one of them:

After years of being encouraged (okay, nagged) by her Mother to write thank-you notes, Dieterich began writing one thank-you note a day to whatever thing, no matter how small or odd, she was thankful for. From important gestures, like a Partner's Understanding, to simple, soulful, and quirky things like Songs You're Embarrassed to Like, thxthxthx features 200 of Dieterich's original, handwritten thank-you notes that collectively convey the look and feel of handwritten notes from a close friend.

It sounds kind of cute doesn't it? Everyday she posts a picture of one of her thank-you-notes-to-inanimate-objects on her website, THXTHXTHX. "Dear Cold Press Coffee Maker", "Dear My Gut", "Dear Thanksgiving". I'll bet she feels a lot more appreciative than she did a few years ago! And that, in itself is a good thing, but I think that you can't be truly grateful, until you know who you're grateful to. 

Think about when you get a Christmas present. It is very sweet of the giver, but how would they feel if you thanked the Christmas present? "Thank you, Christmas present, for making my day!" Of course, I'd hate to get a present from someone who expected a thank you and got angry if I didn't thank them. That wouldn't be much of a gift. It's a good thing God isn't like that.

~Ruth