Yes, I know this is a bit early, but I wanted to get my well-wishes in now in case I don’t get back here in time to give them. I’m experiencing some end-of-pregnancy complications and I may end up having this baby any time now.
Anyway…America is celebrating its 236th birthday this year (I hope that’s right…did that off the top of my head) and we Americans like to do up a birthday in style. How will you celebrate? Parades, picnics, fishing, fireworks? My family will be doing all of the above with guests bringing the food so how can I turn that down? At this point I plan on being home and still pregnant, but that is not a certainty.
So sorry for missing Mother’s Day! I hope everyone had a blessed day surrounded by friends and family. As for mine, it really couldn’t have been better. I am supremely blessed.
I had a horrible time shopping for Mother’s Day for my mom and Mother-in-law this year, unfortunately. Well, not my mom, but my Mother-in-law. She lives in Hawaii and I found that buying flowers online was next to impossible because of the restrictions that prevent flowers from shipping out to the islands. So, instead I had to contact a local florist and pay exorbitant prices for local flowers. Oh well, she loved them and it was worth it!
Short history lesson?
May festivals have historically been a time of “wearing of the green.” May is a time during which we, in the Northern Hemisphere, celebrate a renewal of life. May is named for Maia, the Goddess of death and fertility.
The May pole may be the most familiar icon of May festivities. In some cultures, the May-pole represents the hub of the wheel of heaven. Anciently, the well-known dance of weaving cords around the May pole was an attempt to direct nature back in order. In modern times the dance is performed in the hopes of weaving magic.
Traditional May Day is actually a solar festival that is celebrated on May fifth. Why May 5th? Because it is halfway between spring equinox and summer solstice.
May Day has been celebrated for millennia throughout a variety of cultures. It may be one of the oldest religious festivals kept in the Northern Hemisphere. Modern May Day festivals often touch on the ancient practices without even recognizing or realizing their significance.
The roots of May Day celebration in America…it has never held a high place on most Americans’ calendars – not like the Brits, at least. The tradition of celebrating May Day by dancing and singing around a maypole (decorated with colorful streamers) has survived as a part of the English tradition. Additionally, the hanging of May baskets on doorknobs is also a leftover of old European tradition.
Thanksgiving is steeped in tradition for many households, ours included. Traditions are something that keep us grounded and give us security…they also provide a benchmark as we go through the years keeping the same special traditions. Children, especially, seem to thrive on traditions. In our household, a new tradition can often be born from doing something ONCE that the children especially enjoyed. They have a way of doing this. Anybody else?
We have many traditions involved in our annual Thanksgiving observance. Many surround food, many surround family, many surround the preparations for this day. Here are some of the big ones:
- Two big turkeys. Instead of one HUGE one, we roast two big ones. One in the oven and one in the roaster. They each turn out a little different and various family members prefer one or the other. We couldn’t do without either, though.
- More food than we know what to do with. I bake and cook for days to make two kinds of stuffing, cranberries, four kinds of pie, appetizers, caramel corn, vegetables, cider…any traditional Thanksgiving dish you can imagine. There *must* be enough leftovers to repeat the Thanksgiving meal several times, also. That is a RULE.
- Thanksgiving decorations. We break these out in the beginning of November. Pilgrims, turkeys…the works.
- Thanksgiving crafts…lots of them! A new one each day…and these add to our Thanksgiving decor around the house.
- A new Thanksgiving movie that no one has seen yet. This year, I believe the kids have voted for “Ice Age 3.”
- A Thanksgiving performance. The kids all play instruments and we sit and listen to them play their best pieces after dinner.
- Thanksgiving parades in the morning while the turkey begins to fill the house with delicious aromas.
- A family parlor game around the table after the meal is over and while people are digesting.
- A “blessing tree” which is really just a stick inserted into a container full of sand. We make autumn-colored paper leaves for the tree and everyone writes what they are thankful for on the leaves. The leaves are then attached to the tree with twine for a “blessing tree.”
- Charlie Brown Thanksgiving – need I say more? Must watch this every year! We have raised our kids with the good sense to appreciate Charles Schultz (LOL).
Please share your traditions! We are always looking to add more to our collection!
Anyone beginning to think about Thanksgiving preparations yet? It’s about a week and a half so I consider this coming week the calm before the storm. This is the week I will try to do some deep cleaning, sprucing and making a few things ahead to freeze to simplify cooking and baking next week. We will have 19 loved ones in our home next week and I absolutely cannot wait! Of course, I’m going to need to seriously consider something like myrtle beach vacation rentals after this is all over with, but for now the anticipation is increasing.
Is your household gearing up? What will you do this week to lighten your load next week if you are hosting?
Wishing the most special Thanksgiving to all of my readers, blogging friends, and EC droppers. May you all enjoy abundant blessings not only tomorrow, but the whole year through.
A little assorted trivia in the spirit of Thanksgiving.
- In 1939 to facilitate retail sales, Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to move Thanksgiving to the third Thursday of November. There was much controversy as some Americans celebrated “Franksgiving” and some kept the original Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. Some even celebrated both!
- The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade was held in 1927. The original characters included a drum major, a dragon, and Felix the Cat. They were filled with air (not helium) and were tied down with sticks and ropes.
- The tradition of tugging the wishbone to bring good luck stemmed from an old English custom. The folklore is that the person left holding the larger part would be the next to marry.
- Benjamin Franklin pushed for the turkey to be the national bird of the United States. Thomas Jefferson who opposed him, however. The legend goes that Franklin then named the male turkey a ‘tom’ to spite Jefferson.
- The female turkey makes a clicking sound and it is the Toms that make the gobble sounds. These gobble sounds can be heard up to a mile away!
- Turkeys raised on farms can’t fly. Wild turkeys can fly short distances at up to 55 miles per hour.
Just because we may be having to pinch those pennies a little harder this year does not mean that we shouldn’t make an effort to decorate and make things special for Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a wonderful opportunity to gather with family and friends and show our gratitude and appreciation for the many blessings we have in our lives.
There are many long-held traditions on this day…one of which is a menu that stood the test of time through the generations. The turkey, stuffing, carrots, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, beans, pumpkin pies, cranberries, and fresh-baked rolls all make up the traditional meal that we are looking forward to right now!
Thanksgiving decorating has also withstood the test of time. It is steeped in harvest bounty. From the cornucopia spilling over with harvest goodness, to Indian corn and colorful apples, and squashes. Wreathes made from fruits, nuts, and ribbon are a lovely addition to any door this time of year.
Here are a few ideas for decorating and bringing in some seasonal decor on a budget.
- Table Centerpiece: Search for natural material outside. Some ideas of things to look for are seed pods, leaves, pine cones, acorns, and lightweight twigs. From the store buy walnuts (in the shell), apples, squash, gourds, corn, and colorful vegetables. Thanksgiving is a harvest celebration so food items fit perfectly! Choose one to three types of natural materials to use in your Thanksgiving centerpiece. If you use too many it will look cluttered. Choose a base for your centerpiece. A natural branch, a low basket, a tray, or even a glass plate or mirror are good items to use. Add the natural material you’ve chosen and glue it in place using a hot glue gun. Add some ribbon in a fall color to complete the centerpiece.
- Table Runner: Buy an inexpensive table runner in a light cream color. Provide fabric markers for your guests and have each person write down something they are thankful for. After Thanksgiving, pack the Thanksgiving table runner away until next year. It will be interesting to see what changes a year bring.
- Fall Candlesticks: Buy some apples that will stand up straight with the stem directly on the top. Core each apple. Make sure your hole in the apple is vertical. Stick a tall candle in each cored apple. Put a candlestick on each end of your Thanksgiving centerpiece.
- Autumn Leaves: Buy some inexpensive silk fall leaves. Scatter the leaves around the house – on the mantle, on tables, in the bathrooms, and in your Thanksgiving centerpiece.
- Candles: Buy fall colored candles inexpensively at a dollar store and place them around the house.
- Potpourri: Mix dried pumpkin slices and pieces with nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, allspice berries, bay leaves, dried orange peel, etc. Place in a decorative bowl. Consider adding dried hydrangea blossoms or marigold petals for beautiful fall color.
- Baskets: Rustic apples tucked away on beds of straw and placed in colorful baskets with a shaft of wheat tied in a plaid ribbon will add beautiful decor to a mantel.
However you spread the bountiful cheer around your home this year, the most important thing to remember is to take the time to be mindfully thankful for all of our blessings!
Technorati Tags: Frugal Thanksgiving Decorating, Table Centerpiece, Thanksgiving decorating
