California Blog #33: Thanksgiving

 

Gobble gobble!

That’s the signal for Thanksgiving dinner, just for pleasure.

So let’s prepare to have stuffing piled up for the California holidays. Today, I’m here to talk about the festive holiday we celebrate before December.

Thanksgiving!

Let’s begin with where this holiday was born. Thanksgiving was celebrated in the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. It was where Thanksgiving is the most celebrated day of the year.

As families around the country prepare to gather with family, eat turkey and perhaps partake in some Black Friday shopping, they might be surprised to learn how much we don’t know about the origins of the Thanksgiving.

Nearly all of what historians have learned about the first Thanksgiving comes from a single eyewitness report: a letter written in December 1621 by Edward Winslow, one of the 100 or so people who sailed from England aboard the Mayflower in 1620 and founded Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. William Bradford, Plymouth’s governor in 1621, wrote briefly of the event in Of Plymouth Plantation, his history of the colony, but that was more than 20 years after the feast itself.

Now get this, if I get the chance to visit you or move back here in Northern California with my family, I might get the chance to see you and celebrate Thanksgiving here in Scotts Valley.

But what about the Thanksgiving parade here? Can you actually tell if there’s one here in the Northern California area? If we go to downtown Santa Cruz, we might see a Thanksgiving parade somewhere. And maybe in December, we can even see some festivities (including the Christmas parade) downtown. This is what a parade will look like for example.

Okay now. At the Klavers’ house, we’ll all celebrate Thanksgiving together. We’ll hang out together, have some turkey, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, etc., watch some football, and spend some quality time.

Who knows what might happen next during this time of year. Maybe someone can enjoy a funny Thanksgiving themed family feature in the living room. The only Thanksgiving film I remember watching is ‘A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving’, and it was an authentic movie. I really like the part where Snoopy was in the pilgrim outfit.

One other thing I will always remember is that time I got to spend Thanksgiving while I was living in Lawrence. My grandparents were there, even my folks were here too. Heck, I even got to see Emily and Anna next door too.

If I were to dress up as a pilgrim originated from that holiday, Uncle Mark and I would celebrate it traditionally. I would even dress up as a Native American Indian. And Uncle Mark would dress up as a pilgrim also. Aunt Leta would think that was funny, then we would come up with a funny Thanksgiving play together. We’d call this play ‘Long Day In Plymouth’. It would have a talking turkey puppet, we’d be in our ridiculous Thanksgiving outfits, and we goof off.

Anyway, if you like my blog, then listen to my new Spotify playlist for the fall. I call it ‘Autumn Vibes’ and you should check that out.

My next idea for when we celebrate Thanksgiving in California is maybe go for a walk with Leta and Mark on a quiet afternoon and take the bus to San Francisco and hang around for a couple of hours. Maybe we can try on some new outfits at a clothing store downtown.

Leta’s idea would consider a Thanksgiving parade somewhere in Santa Cruz.

Uncle Mark’s idea would be making up a funny play for Thanksgiving.

My dad’s idea for that would be playing some guitar.

My mom’s idea would be gathering the whole family together, which is what we do every November.

Their cousins’ ideas would also be joining us for Thanksgiving.

So there, now you know.

I have a good feeling that Thanksgiving will always be a traditional holiday to celebrate at the house like always, and maybe someday will be different to celebrate too.

Anyway, I hope this blog helps. And maybe this will work also. If we can get our ideas to work, maybe we can gather around. But right now, it’s time for us to come home for the holidays with the turkey on the way. So arrive hungry.

…and Happy Thanksgiving.