That was kind of a crowded title but I sense it is going to be a crowded day for many of us. Hopefully we can keep the stress to a minimum for one. Most of the early stress I see is in young hostesses trying to get through their first turkey roasting, a right of passage for sure.
At the hospital that was the topic of the day, who is cooking what for whom amongst the nurses. And a lot of the younger nurses will be tasked with being on duty today so they may get the meal in take out form this year. And a third of the nurses are from foreign lands and are paddling hard to get up to speed with this Norman Rockwell of a holiday.
We are off to a potluck meal at a rented hall with old friends here locally, no big travel. My Rebecca is bringing her signature cornbread dressing to share. We have been processing our dried corn into cornmeal for this. And we have lots more meal that will be vacuum packed and stored in the freezer for later. It is part of the largesse that we are thankful for today.
Michelle our neighbor and one high level plant whisperer posted this comment yesterday and I wanted to make sure that you had a chance to see it:
“Hi Phil,
This remarkable fall here in the NW has opened up possibilities for outdoor work that are rare, and I have been working these days, with gratitude for the beauty, for my current health, and the gift of this farm that I am stewarding more than in some years which have had more trouble. Someone asked me why I was doing all this, and I said, to get ready for what is next. She was surprised by this for some reason. But Camino people will get it… This day I can go further because I can, because being ready for help or hurt is to still be walking in grace. Happy Thanksgiving, thankful for you and yours…“
Farmer John, my brother from another mother, will appreciate what I am going to say next. But trying to get my brain around my crowded life and all the wonderful things that have come my way over the last decade in the guise of serious illness, it’s genesis. But if I could pick one thing that points to our gift of largesse it would be for me the phenomenon of corn.
I am going to make up a little demo for our guests at the meal today. I could shuck two ears of our dried corn and put that in a ziplock bag for them to handle and view to see what one seed will produce. This will be an excellent show and tell. Yes. And an excellent prayer.
And remember to bring calm and peace to the meeting today. People will be there with new hurts and old hurts and new hearts and old hearts. Quite a minefield to navigate through but that is our job.
Bless you loves Felipé.
Hola, Felipe y Rebecca!
So excited reading all the positive response to your Bureau Chiefs conclave planned for next summer! A big thing to be “future Thankful” for. Great post you had today. People are often surprised when I list my favorite holiday as being Thanksgiving. With all I have been given, how could it not be? I posted this on my FB page today, but thought I’d give it a repeat here, as your audience and mine don’t totally overlap.
Thanksgiving Thoughts
Count your Blessings
Instead of your Crosses;
Count your Gains
Instead of your Losses.
Count your Joys
Instead of your Woes;
Count your Friends
Instead of your Foes.
Count your Smiles
Instead of your Tears;
Count your courage
Instead of your Fears.
Count your Full years
Instead of your lean;
Count your kind Deeds
Instead of your Mean.
Count your Health
Instead of your Wealth;
Count on God
Instead of Yourself.
I can’t take credit for any of the composition, but I can take pride for passing it around.
You’re my Hero, Amigo Felipe, able to find reasons to be thankful everyday.
SF,
PFJ
PFJ ~ I sense that we are on a roll. Bless you and the whole Conway clan. A happy Thanksgiving to you all. PFF
Dear neighbors,
In this land where I live (and was born!) we do not celebrate Thanksgiving, for us, the tradition runs strongly at Christmas, to the point that our Christmas tables still have the same food our European ancestors used to have in Europe, when the seasons were the opposite…
And in the last years I have been reflecting on the fact that we are in an active process of losing why we do things, what we celebrate, why, and most importantly, we are losing the opportunity to celebrate our human being nature… which is a grateful heart, or a faithful heart, or a hopeful heart, or a renewed heart, a magic heart, in accordance with the date…
When I read the “teaching” or prayer! you have in hands for tonight, and read the post from yesterday, I thought you are a rescuer if the tradition…! And with PFJ words above mines, I also feel his storytelling effort, which surely will be imprinted in the hearts of that large band of grandchildren he has… and this is how I see the flame will be still alive!
So thank you and PFJ for restoring the hopes!
Today we certainly can celebrate a grateful heart!
Always Loves,
Cris
Ah Cris!
You, Dear Heart, have the hearts of two old men firmly and lovingly in your kind hands! Either of us would go out and joust windmills for you. 🙂 Your post pointed directly at why I appreciate the Thanksgiving holiday the most, as it is truly the one that makes us focus on all the Good we have been granted and from whom we that Good is received. And I do emphasize to the young ones how important that is, both by telling them directly and telling them how MUCH they have in comparison to those of our family who came here so poor so many years ago. Your words are a welcome approbation of my message to them.
Blessing Love,
PFJ
Awwww!!! Thank you, PFJ!!! I feel very pampered with this and all the kind comments! The best is that those feelings are mutual!
Indeed, I am a firmly believer that these celebratory traditions are something to keep, undoubtedly we can and have to adapt to create our own version, taking their meaning and making it ours, not only to honor what we were handed, but to have the opportunity to pass it on…
We will have lots of opportunities coming soon… I am sure we will have much more to share and pass on!
BIG HUGS,
Cris
Yes, jousting windmills for sure!
Happy Thanksgiving from afar Cris! Thank you for adding so much to our conversation, our salon, our saloon. Whatever it is at the moment. A patch of blue sky is coming my way as I look out the hospital window, how about that? Looking forward to seeing you again, Felipe.x
It was indeed a crowded day, but you were there in my heart, Dear One. I actually am stuck on “Heartship”. Wow! As I was preparing for the 20 plus guests we had a cloud crossed my mind and I thought that it wasn’t fun, and although I didn’t use the word hardship I could have. But then seeing you turn it around to Heartship, well, when we do in service of others there may be some times that don’t necessarily feel so good but are important, heart-filled acts of kindness and selflessness that make us better people. That prepare us for being bigger and better people. Heartship. Yeah, I like that one, Felipe. I’d love you to write more on that one, too. Thank you my friend, and blessed Thanksgiving wishes to one and all who gather here. I carry you all in my heart (in my heartship?! Another shade of meaning!) and wish you all the best.
Annie ~ all well put my dear. Wow, did you have 20 folks over to your place? You are brave. We went to a community potluck at a rented hall with about fifty others with lots of variety of eats. But I think that the mashed potatoes got left out. Well that’s why they call it a potluck I guess!
A mutation in my auto correct came up with Heartship. It was a gift to us from the Land of No Coincidences. Thanks for being my buddy, Felipé.x