A Canadian Thanksgiving

A longer post is forthcoming. Until it arrives, I just wanted to wish everyone in the world a belated, but very happy Canadian Thanksgiving.

I learned yesterday that there are a few Canadian faculty here at Messiah. A number of people came up to me throughout the day to inform me that their Canadian professor had informed them that Monday was, in fact, Canadian Thanksgiving. Some of these professors are genuinely Canadian; others claim the title through a spouse or cousin or dog or whatever. The point is, you'll never feel more proud to be Canadian than when you're living in America.

So you tell your American friends that today is Thanksgiving Day in the motherland. And they exclaim, "What!? Canada has Thanksgiving? ...Um, what for?"

And you proceed to explain that though we had no Pilgrims, and no voyage of the Mayflower, and though our first encounter with the Natives is not recorded as a cordial family affair, we still have a harvest and a reason to be thankful. Then you'll tell them that it is celebrated in mid-October, because it's gosh-darn hard enough to farm the frozen tundra in July, let alone November. Then you'll describe how you celebrate in your ancestral igloo, but the turkey isn't cooked for fear of melting the roof. And after we gnaw the turkey, which is actually a Canadian Goose, we wash it down with some home-cooked poutine and throw on our toques before skating ootside.

But, I suppose, if they press you on your facts, they should know the truth. For instance, that the first recorded feast of thanksgiving in Canada dates to 1578. But whoever gets credit for originating the holiday, giving thanks is not as American as apple pie, anymore than it's as Canadian as peameal bacon.

So wherever you're at this Thanksgiving season (which, for me, spans 7 weeks and two countries), I hope it is blessed.

Cheers!
jmb




Mmm, peameal bacon.