Thanksgiving 2023

Galen here, once again borrowing Marlene’s blog to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Luna the grey tabby cat emerging from underneath a quilt

As always, we are thankful for our cats (and Luna, pictured here, is thankful for quilts to nest underneath). Unlike 2018, 2020, and 2022, there have been no changes in our feline population: Lucifer, Hecate (and how did she suddenly become five?), George, Luna, and Tuna have been trucking along.

For today, “Harvest Moon” by Longfellow:

It is the Harvest Moon! On gilded vanes
And roofs of villages, on woodland crests
And their aerial neighborhoods of nests
Deserted, on the curtained window-panes
Of rooms where children sleep, on country lanes
And harvest-fields, its mystic splendor rests!
Gone are the birds that were our summer guests,
With the last sheaves return the laboring wains!
All things are symbols: the external shows
Of Nature have their image in the mind,
As flowers and fruits and falling of the leaves;
The song-birds leave us at the summer’s close,
Only the empty nests are left behind,
And pipings of the quail among the sheaves.

Thanksgiving 2022

Galen here once again to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving. As was the case in 2018 and 2020, more cats have entered our lives. This time, it’s Luna (who likes bathroom sinks and has OPINIONS if you’re not petting her when required) and Tuna (who is a very sweet and very large lug of a kitty). Alas, this year also marked the passing of Freddie. Cats leave holes in our hearts when they pass; new cats do not fill those holes, not quite, but lay the groundwork for future holes — and yet I cannot imagine a life without them.

The reading for today is a small one: “The cat’s song” by Marge Piercy:

Mine, says the cat, putting out his paw of darkness.
My lover, my friend, my slave, my toy, says
the cat making on your chest his gesture of drawing

milk from his mother’s forgotten breasts.

Let us walk in the woods, says the cat.
I’ll teach you to read the tabloid of scents,
to fade into shadow, wait like a trap, to hunt.

Now I lay this plump warm mouse on your mat.

… the rest here

Thanksgiving 2021

Galen here, once again borrowing Marlene’s blog to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!

This time around, let me tell you about one of the things I’m thankful for: the historian Bret Devereaux’s blog A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry. Devereaux, who teaches at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, specializes in ancient Mediterranean history with a focus on how ordinary people were both affected by and influenced the economy and warfare.

His blog marries popular culture and ancient military history and tactics but is grounded in current, rigorous historical thinking that doesn’t lose sight of the common people — but is always entertaining to read. He seems incapable of writing briefly, but the result are pieces that you can really dig into. He generally posts on Fridays, and it’s always a pleasure to see one of them show up in my feed reader. If you read historical fiction, particularly books set in ancient Rome or Greece, or epic fantasy, I highly recommend checking his blog out. Likewise if you’re interested in ancient military history; Devereaux‘s pieces on warfare are quite interesting, but he never forgets that war is a terrible thing.

Some of his hits include:

There’s much more, including pieces on the intersection of video games and history, historiography, and advice if you’re considering becoming a historian yourself.

Looking for something to read while the turkey roasts? Dig in!

Or just look at the upside-down Hecate:

Hecate the tortoiseshell cat lying on the floor, looking at the camera, upside-down

Thanksgiving 2020

Galen here, once again sneaking onto Marlene’s blog to do a Thanksgiving reading list post.

George staring at me. Awaiting turkey?

As was the case in 2018, we are thankful for yet another kitty in our lives. George is one of the offspring of a neighborhood cat. He’s turned into quite the social glue of our clowder, demanding and getting affection from Freddie, Lucifer, and Hecate in various ways.

Again, as with 2018, I am hopeful that the results of the election will get our country back towards the path of justice. Of course, this is a difficult time: the pandemic is on fire everywhere in this country, and I fear that all of the travel and gatherings for Thanksgiving will cause so many needless deaths.

Marlene and I will be celebrating Thanksgiving together with the cats, and no one else is invited. Maybe next year will be different, but for as many of us to get to next year as possible, patience is required today. On the one hand, that’s easy enough for me and Marlene to say; we’re introverts. I won’t pretend that staying home hasn’t been hard for us, but I know it is a lot more difficult many others, including folks who have no choice but to go out into the world in order to keep body and soul together. But please: if you can, stay home for the holidays, share your Thanksgiving meal only with your pod (or at least stay outdoors as much as possible), wear your masks, and wash your hands.

Some reading:

Thanksgiving 2019

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Alternatively, Happy Turkey Coma Day. Or even Happy Parade Day.

Possibly even Happy semi-official start of the Xmas Season.

Last year, Galen posted a reading list along with a picture of tiny, bitey Miss Hecate, who was thankful for her timely rescue the month before. So I’ll leave you this year with a picture of the full-grown Miss Hecate, still grateful for that timely rescue, just as we are grateful for her playful advent into our lives. And as you can see from her picture below, she’s expecting someone to be grateful that she brought him a mousie.

 

Thanksgiving 2017

Today marks Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.

For a lot of us, this is a day off of work, and a day to spend with family and friends. Also a day to end up in a turkey-induced coma, although I’m trying to avoid that last bit.

We’re spending the holiday with friends and family-of-choice. Wherever you are, I hope its warm, bright and filled with the voices of those you care for.

The leaves have fallen. Snow may be on the ground, or falling. Autumn is definitely here in the northern hemisphere.

And tomorrow, heaven help us all, is Black Friday, and the opening salvos of the holiday shopping season.

Rest up!

Thanksgiving Day 2016

Happy-Thanksgiving-Images-Card

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the U.S.

Thanksgiving may be a bit more strained around some family dinner tables than others this year. We’re planning to be with like-minded friends, so while there may be some sadness amidst the joy, we’ve always been on the same side and this holiday will be a chance to welcome new friends among us and be grateful that we have each other to lean on.

Before I sign off to go see if I can help with the turkey, I have one final thought to leave you with today:

539-thanksgiving-quotes

Thanksgiving Day 2015

santa and turkey

For Thanksgiving Day I usually write something short and if possible funny. The cartoon above would probably be on point. Or sometimes Galen does a reading list. Not this year.

Instead, we have this:

first thanksgiving refugees

John Oliver on Last Week Tonight said something cogent about the results of that first Thanksgiving, comparing it to events going on right now:

john oliver refugees thanksgiving

As has happened so often since 9/11, we are again forgetting one of Ben Franklin’s most important comments:

franklin liberty vs security variation

Because Ben was right. So many people seem to be willing to give up who we are and what we stand for as a country because they have bought in to the fear that has been ginned up by certain political leaders and news outlets on the right of the political spectrum.

Even though Franklin D. Roosevelt turned out to be spectacularly wrong about the Japanese Internment Camps, in this he was absolutely right. (And the Internment Camps were a response to unreasoning and racist fear)

fdr fear

Remember this instead:

fear is a liar

 

Thanksgiving Day 2014: a small reading list

Galen here, taking advantage of Marlene’s incipient tryptophan poisoning to do a holiday post on her blog.

Very Large Turkey by rickpilot_2000 on Flickr (CC-BY-SA)
Very Large Turkey by rickpilot_2000 on Flickr (CC-BY-SA)

Behold the national bird of the United States of America! That is, if Ben Franklin had had his way.

Quoting good old Ben:

“I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America… He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.”

Of course, had the turkey become the national bird, we might feel inhibited against eating it… and I really don’t think eagle would be a good substitute. So it all works out.

Here is some reading for the day:

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 12-1-13

Sunday Post

For those of us in the U.S. it is the end of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. For everyone not in the U.S., you’re probably wondering what the fuss was about. Except that we were in Vancouver, Canada on Thursday and Friday and saw Black Friday Sale signs going up all over the place. It seemed strange to have Black Friday Sales without having had a Thanksgiving Thursday first. And Canada doesn’t. Thanksgiving in Canada was way back on October 14.

We asked people what the deal was, and it turned out that yes, it was becoming a deal. Vancouver, at least, is way too close to the U.S. border for economic comfort. Too many Christmas shoppers were driving to Seattle, or at least the outlet mall along the way, to grab the Black Friday shopping madness in the U.S.

So the Canadian stores were trying to keep those shoppers at home by giving them their very own Black Friday sales. Turkey and stuffing optional.

Buying In by Laura HemphillCurrent Giveaways:

Buying In by Laura Hemphill — hardcover copy of the book
Poisoned Web by Crista McHugh — $100 Amazon Gift Card
Bittersweet Magic by Nina Croft — $25 Amazon Gift Card
Seductive Powers by Rebecca Royce — $50 Amazon Gift Card
Bewitching Book Tours Hot Holiday Giveaway

Winner Announcements:

The winner of the paperback copy of In Love with a Wicked Man by Liz Carlyle is Erin F.
The winner of the $10 Amazon or B&N Gift card in the Gratitude Giveaway Hop is Ellie.

poisoned web by crista mchughBlog Recap:

B Review: Buying In by Laura Hemphill + Giveaway
B+ Review: In Love With a Wicked Man by Liz Carlyle + Giveaway
C+ Review: Matzoh and Mistletoe by Jodie Griffin
Happy Thanksgivukkah
A- Review: Poisoned Web by Crista McHugh + Giveaway
Stacking the Shelves (68)

The Blooding of Jack Absolute by C.C. HumphreysComing Next Week:

Parts & Wreck by Mark Henry (review + guest post + giveaway)
The Blooding of Jack Absolute by C.C. Humphreys (review)
Codex Born by Jim C. Hines (review)
When It’s Right by Jeanette Grey (review)
Alien Adoration by Jessica E. Subject (review)
Alien Admirer by Jessica E. Subject (review)