The Art of Giving Thanks

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.

~Thornton Wilder

On Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge our dependence.

~William Jennings Bryan

I was out today working in the gardens, and the wild turkeys were wandering the property, popping up here and there, and waiting expectantly for the occasional seed I toss to them on the plateau. Watching them on the property and coexisting with them has become a fun distraction at RMH.

It was interesting when I was looking online for more information on the birds because many if not most sites typically associate the preservation of the species with hunting or complain about them as a bit of a nuisance. Quite a fall from the days when they were suggested by Benjamin Franklin as our national bird .

There are many people in the area who do in fact enjoy a wild turkey (um. Sure, and the bird of the drink), and Sonoma County does have a turkey-hunting season (not surprisingly, it is in November). Wild Turkeys are much like turkeys grown for food in that they are much leaner and tougher. (Grown, an interesting term of the poultry industry I picked up watching a documentary on the industrial food practices…and the only way to the get giant legs, thighs and breasts people love to eat.) But as you might expect, there is much local culinary advice on how to prepare them.

At RMH, we mostly just leave them alone and marvel and laugh at them. They haven’t been a nuisance to us, and I really believe they do a lot to control snails, slugs, ticks and other insects. Yes, it’s a bit of a bother to clean up a garden site they occasionally scratch up, but, again, I just think about the organic insect control.

First Thanksgiving

Of course, though I mostly value them as wildlife, one can’t help but think and joke about our hungry and sassy wild turkeys and Thanksgiving. And, actually, this linkage reinforces the importance of living off the land and being connected to it as a significant part of the first Thanksgiving, especially since a major reason the pilgrims gave thanks is because they learned vital skills from Native Americans that helped them survive.

In fact, the history of the pilgrims first arriving here is grim—after 66 days crossing the ocean, spending the first winter living on their boats, and losing half of the original group—the rest only survived by learning skills to live off the land.

This knowledge helped the pilgrims survive and thrive (all political controversies and commentary to be left for another day), and so:

“In November 1621, after the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest proved successful, Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory feast and invited a group of the fledgling colony’s Native American allies, including the Wampanoag chief Massasoit. Now remembered as American’s “first Thanksgiving”—although the Pilgrims themselves may not have used the term at the time—the festival lasted for three days.”

(Source)

I find this all fascinating, and consider it the FIRST back-to-the land, or, farm-to-table, celebration. The vegetables they ate are now considered “heirloom,” the farming was organic, and the techniques they used to thrive was the type of soil-based cultivation so many people are struggling to get back to now.

And, the key core of that first celebration was the harvest and the bounty of the land (and praising god for keeping them alive…), as well as the community they were literally building. (Interesting note that they didn’t have much sugar, so there weren’t really the deserts and such that have become such a hallmark of Thanksgiving today.)

And so, when you gather with friends & family (old and new) this Thanksgiving, take time to be truly thankful: honor the earth for giving us all the food & nutrition that keeps us alive and the people in your life who give you soulful nourishment.

Happy Giving Thanks!

~Timothy