Turkey Day is Coming Up

A versão em português desta postagem encontra-se aqui:

http://georgeroberts.blogspot.com/2008/11/happy-thanksgiving.html

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, always falls on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and in October in Canada. The growing season in Canada is a bit shorter than the American one, so it makes sense to celebrate the harvest earlier.

What are Americans celebrating? 1621 was a very difficult year for the recently-arrived British colonists in Plymouth, Massachusetts. If it were not for the help of the Indians and the new American food (like turkey and corn) that they brought the newcomers, the Pilgrims, as we call them, would have starved to death. Thanksgiving was a celebration of the colonists' first successful harvest in the New World and a show of gratitude to the Indians.

In our day, Thanksgiving is a day of celebration when families gather and eat that delicious turkey, along with typical Thanksgiving food such as creamed onions, stuffing or dressing (the same thing: little squares of bread seasoned cooked inside the "bird"), turkey gravy, mashed potatoes, and green beans (string beans), and cranberry sauce among other delicacies. The dessert is usually pumpkin pie, sometimes with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream on top. We eat like there is no tomorrow. In fact we overeat. It is really delicious, and most people don't have to work the next day, so why not?

More people travel before and after Thanksgiving than at any other time of year, including Christmas, despite the bad weather, lack of money, and the fact that airplane seats seem to be getting smaller (or passengers are getting fatter). It's a chance for family members to get caught up on what everyone has been doing, to hug, to fight (it happens sometimes), and for adults to relive a bit of their childhood. The ethnic restaurants usually close on this day. After all, who wants tacos or Thai food when all eyes are on Mr. Turkey? Actually, in Orange County, California years ago, I do remember one Mexican restaurant that was offering turkey tacos one Thanksgiving, but that is an exception to the rule.

For those who are so inclined, there is plenty of American football to watch after that big, big, lunch. And if you are the one who invited everyone and provided the turkey, you can look forward to days if not weeks of turkey sandwiches and turkey soup (very tasty) and what remains of dinner, called leftovers (sobras), because the food was left over (sobrou).

The next day, nicknamed "Black Friday", is the biggest shopping day of the year. You need to get to the mall early to find a parking place, This is traditionally the kickoff to the Christmas shopping season. The stores are seasonally decorated, Santa Claus asks the boys and girls what they want for Christmas, and new shipments of Christmas merchandise fill the shelves. This is when we start to hear typical Christmas music on the radio, in malls, stores, everywhere. There are even radio stations that change their format to Christmas music in November or December. (Usually those broadcasters are desperate to increase their market share.)

Even with no cold weather, no turkey, and no American football, a Happy Tropical Thanksgiving to All!