Thanksgiving it’s an all-American celebration like Christmas is for us Italians.
Families gather from all parts, eat and argument aplenty in front of a table set with vertiginous amounts of food and wines, the Macy’s parade and football (or whatever is it that they play, I admit and bow to my ignorance on this).
Yes I am American too, but Thanksgiving wasn’t a festivity I was brought up with. So I am trying to adapt to it and celebrate.
(picture credit: Claire Ptak’s pumpkin pies)
I become melancholic for not being able to fully transport like with a time machine my most beloved holiday of the year to Miami, because Christmas with the palms and 80 degrees is never the same as through the olives in Tuscany, the chimney on and my grand-father dressed up as Santa.
Same way Christmas eve is not that piglet that Cubans cook under the ashes and eat with frijoles, but it’s fish and vegetables waiting for the midnight mass.
So, I am going to make it a point and try to delve into the spirit of Thanksgiving.
Thank you fall for being the season that carries the winter out from lethargy.
Thank you for being so copious of a season to provide us with some of the most incredible foods the human species ever set tongue on: porcini, persimmon, pomegranate, pumpkin, white truffles, crabs and lobsters and Beaujolais Nouveau.
Thank you for bringing the temperatures down and allow us to don the silver fox collar.
Thank you for the Macy’s parade, Charlie Brown “The Great Pumpkin” and for kickstarting the Christmas decorations.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to give thanks.
Thank you for reminding us that we are indeed lucky to have this abundance of health, family, happiness, love, pets and shoes that surround us and fill our days with joy.
Thank you for being such a ‘sweater weather’ trooper, we couldn’t handle white linens all year long.
Thank you for making Black Friday a reality, you know how frugal-ites rejoice with deals: we bloom like orchids. It’s a midnight party central over here. Let’s all meet online for a Black Friday online anticipated version of Cyber Monday.
