Monday, November 23, 2020

It’s Thanksgiving—during the pandemic

By SJ Otto

Thanksgiving will be this Thursday. Last year I wrote an article on Thanksgiving. That is a holiday that is supposed to go back to when the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in the 17th century. Native American Indians and white settlers from Europe came together to celebrate a difficult year. But the actual holiday we celebrate today was OFFICIALLY declared, By Congress and the President in 1941. Between that one year with the Pilgrims and Indians and 1941, there have been many Thanksgiving celebrations. They were especially popular after the Civil War. For a look at what we eat today, this is from Mental Floss:

“When Bradford's journals were reprinted in 1856 after being lost for at least half a century, they found a receptive audience with advocates who wanted Thanksgiving turned into a national holiday. Since Bradford wrote of how the colonists had hunted wild turkeys during the autumn of 1621 and since turkey is a uniquely North American (and scrumptious) bird, it gained traction as the Thanksgiving meal of choice for Americans after Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863.”

The big difference this year is the Coronavirus. People are being advised not to go to large family gatherings. I know I won’t. It will just be my wife, Cam Gentry, my brother John Otto and me. Some people will take the advice and others will not. I have just read about a woman in South Dakota who is determined not to wear a mask or do any thing to disrupt her life by the pandemic. She is planning to have 20 relatives and/ or friends over for the Thanksgiving Holiday. They are not going to let that virus interfere with their traditional holiday. Some of them may die if they catch that disease, but they are not going to let a little death stop them.

This is an unusual year. As usual, we need a good traditional Thanksgiving song:

For a look at the politically incorrect ideas behind this holiday see Humans are Free.