Day 1, The Thanksgiving Project

I'm writing this on a cool, sunny day in late September. It's a typical kind of early Fall day here in the Valley. Somewhat hotter and drier than usual, but we're getting a slow trickle of fall leaves. The late summer scarecrows, gingersnaps and cornstalks have given way to pumpkins, gourds, and ghouls. Even though it's more than a month away, Halloween is in the stores, front yards, and everywhere else.

And before the last jack o'lantern collapses inward and the last candy corn has been picked over, one station will start playing Christmas carols.

I can understand it. Thanksgiving has a lot to be said for it, but it isn't a dress-up holiday, and there will be no presents competing for space with the candied yams and green bean casserole. Thanksgiving tv specials themselves are usually a bit thin on plot. It's just not that big a deal whether a group of people have a nice meal together, in the grand scheme of things.

On the other hand, meals mean something. If you're a Catholic, then you hope to be invited to the most important of meals- the wedding feast of the Lamb. And the ebb and flow of family life is centered around many little rituals, of which the family dinner is, you might say, no small potatoes. And that is as best as I can put it for why I'm doing this blog project- to carve some space out for the feast that is Thanksgiving.