Thanksgiving is Really Tomorrow (for chickens).

Here in the United States today is Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday! Not my favorite because of a glut of food (although that goes a long way with me). For me, it is my favorite because unlike how most American holidays have morphed over the decades to become bloated affairs with fighting over traditions and what is the ‘proper’ way to celebrate it, Thanksgiving is nearly incorruptible!

You don’t need weird costumes.
You don’t need an endless array of gifts.
You don’t need sappy seasonal music.
You don’t need a bottomless basket of candy.
You don’t need budget crushing decorations in every corner.

You can do all of these things with Thanksgiving, I guess, but you don’t need it. You need but three things …

1) A decent meal.
2) Good company to share it with.
3) A sense of gratitude for all that you do have in life.

This year, I am especially grateful that my two young roosters have been spared and are off somewhere ‘celebrating’ Thanksgiving with their new found flocks. It is the gift of life. The meal they would have become would have been a gift of life for our family, but instead we have sought this gift elsewhere and I am so grateful for all of these experiences!

Thanksgiving this year is a casual intimate affair at our house this year, just my wife and I, my mom, and our son. As such, we’ve decided to depart from the overly plump, hormone infused turkey, and opted for goose! As Americans, goose is not normally on the menu so we’re looking forward to the slight change for this year’s centerpiece.

The cats will benefit and so will the pig. If our outside gentleman caller (who is not my cat) arrives, he’ll also get a treat on the porch.

The flock, however, will have a cold day in the run with their usual feed and treats. THEIR Thanksgiving will likely come tomorrow! After our meal today, and left overs divvied up, they will have already gone to bed. The morning tomorrow will find for them the opportunity to pick over the goose carcass and any other morsels that can be gathered to ensure they will have a real treat as well!

As each year passes, I am so grateful for my life, my wife, my family, and all of the wonderful gifts and lessons I encounter through each year.

This year I am very grateful, my dear readers, to have been able to share these journeys and thoughts with you!

Happy Thanksgiving!