Once Again We Give Thanks - II

Honour the fruits of thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thy increase; so shall they barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

Proverbs 3: 9-10
King James Bible (1611)

I was surprised on Saturday when two friends on Facebook - one English, the other a New Zealander - both expressed surprise at Canadians celebrating Thanksgiving.  Their immediate assumption was that it was an "American" holiday.

I've written in several Thanksgiving posts about the Canadian tradition of Thanksgiving back to our Native Peoples. Every culture has its traditions and rituals - many of them to do with religious observances just as many not - to give thanks for events, victories and always for the harvest. One of the most surprising Canadian thanksgivings were the celebrations - Te Deums, the non-stopping ringing of bells and feasting for days - that went on in the streets of Montreal in 1805.  The news of Nelson's victory over the "Royal Usurper" Bonaparte stirred up the entire population of the city - French and English - and the French merchants subscribed to a monument to Nelson that stands in the centre of Old Montreal to this day.  The defeat of "le petit caporal" was indeed a reason to give thanks for the many families of Royalist heritage in the city and province.

But back to the more traditional Harvest Thanksgiving as celebrated here in Canada; the folks at Canada411 put out a little chart a few years ago that gives some pertinent facts about the holiday as observed here in Canada.  I do take exception to their need to make a comparison with the American holiday but they are right about the earlier harvest - it was 3c this morning when I took the kids out for their walk.

And of course being politically correct the good folks at Canada411 have omitted the religious observance from which our current tradition derives.  I have spoken before of the Harvest Thanksgiving services I recall as a child in our small parish church and later as an acolyte at St Thomas Huron Street.  To this day the words and music of those Matins, Masses and Evensongs remind me of the many things for which I have every reason to give thanks.

Strangely the Hymnal lists only a handful of hymns for the Harvest Thanksgiving but I recall we sang them all at one time or another.  In 1861 Jane Montgomery Campbell translated Mathias Claudius 1782 poem Wir flügen und wir struen and it became We plough the fields and scatter.  The music is the original German setting composed in 1800 by Johann A. P. Schulz.

The Collect for Harvest Thanksgiving

O Almighty and everlasting God, who crownest the year with thy goodness, and hast given unto us the fruits of the earth in their season; Give us grateful hearts, that we may unfeignedly thank thee for all thy loving kindness, and worthily magnify they name.

The Book of Common Prayer

Canada 1959

No matter if we are Canadian or American; no matter if we celebrate a harvest, an event or a victory; no matter if we believe in the faith of Christ, Buddha,the Earth Mother or simply a power higher than ourselves; most of us have reason to give thanks for the bounty that has been given us.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my family and friends. 

October 8 - 1904: Edmonton, Alberta was incorporated as a city.

Lunedi Lunacy

And  I will restate - and no I do not protest too much - I am not a retifist!  But for my favourite shoe fanatics (you know who you are don't you Cecilia? Lara? Shirl? Jessica?)  here's a perfect Thanksgiving gift.

Once again:  Happy Thanksgiving??????

October 8-  1582: Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in that year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

Once Again We Give Thanks - I

Yesterday I posted a comment on Facebook that expressed how I felt as the Thanksgiving weekend began here in Canada.  As we prepare to head out to friends for Thanksgiving dinner I thought I'd share those thoughts with a wider world.

 Its Thanksgiving Weekend here in Canada and I started thinking that maybe I should make a photo montage of all the things I am thankful for - as I storyboarded it (yes I do that sort of thing) I realized that it wasn't things that I was thankful for but people.  People that I have known since childhood and still know and love; people I have met in the various countries we have lived in, many who have become like family; people I have worked with and grown close to; people I have met face to face and people I have only known through the exchange of thoughts through the ether. Of all the things I have been blessed with it is the people in my life that I should be most thankful for - they have given me purpose, meaning and love. I am truly blessed and for that I will always give thanks.

And as I look at this weekend it has and will be one filled with time spent with my family (Laurent and the HFH), friends - long-time and recent.

Uncle Pervy has been a cherished person in my life almost since the day I arrived in Ottawa 36 years ago.  Last night was a mile-stone birthday for him and we celebrated amongst family and friends - some of whom I had not seen in many years.  Jim, one of our old gang, drove the 1350 kms from PEI to be with us.  Others came in from Toronto and the Finger Lakes, some came from just down the street but our paths had not crossed in a while.  It was a joyous - and at times a bit bawdy as we recalled old times - meeting of friends and family. 

Tonight will be dinner with friends of a more recent vintage - Jackie, Mona and their daughter Shawna came into our lives through a Christmas dinner in 2005 with our friends Ross and Albert.  Every year since we have received an invitation to their New Year's reception; we were able to attend several but because of distance more often than not had to send our regrets.  But every year without fail the invitation would be extended with the hope that one day we would be able to accept and this past January we were able to enjoy the afternoon with them once more.  This evening we'll be joining them and other friends to have a meal together and give thanks for all the blessings of this past year.

Tomorrow at lunch Cathy will be ladling out soup, Laurent will be carving a turkey he cooked (his first!!!) and John will be offering slices of his pumpkin cheese cake.  Me - well I'll be opening and pouring a bottle or two of one of our lovely light Italian reds - its an onerous task but I've agreed to it.  As we linger over our coffee we will no doubt recall Thanksgivings, other feasts and good times spent together in Chicago, Rome, Aylmer, Niagara-on-the-Lake or just here in Ottawa.  We'll be wishing that Rick were here with us and the plan is to call him in Florida to, at the least, tell him what he's missing and that he is missed.

A fine weekend that has been filled with friends, family and thanks. Indeed I am truly blessed and for that I will always give thanks

October 07 - 1998: Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, is found tied to a fence after being savagely beaten by two young men in Laramie, Wyoming.

With Thanks

The idea that Thanksgiving is an American invention has always puzzled me. Perhaps as a holiday - i.e. a day away from work - it is very American but as an actual celebration it is as old as man's first harvest.  When I was growing up the holiday was more of a religious nature based on the observance as set out in the Book of Common Prayer.  Very English and being that our neighbourhood was semi-rural often of a communal nature.

Every culture has its rites, rituals and celebrations of the time of gathering and the First NationsI people in North America were no different with dances and feasts to celebrate the successful bounty of crops.  But Thanksgiving celebrations were not always about the harvest - often they honoured the end of a war, the return to health of an important worthy or the safe deliverance of a community from peril.  Indeed the first record of an non-aboriginal "thanksgiving" in Canada was a service of thanks given when Martin Frobisher reached Baffin Island in 1578.  It has been a bad crossing and one of his small fleet had been lost.

The French explorers and settlers often celebrated special days of feasting to celebrate their safe arrival in a new land, and of course nothing would do but that L'Ordre de Bon Temps be created to oversee the festivities and entertainments.  When France ceded the territory to Britain at the end of the Seven Year's War the nature of the irregular celebrations of Thanksgiving took on the less gourmand tone of the Church of England.  With the influx of United Empire Loyalists many customs and practices of the American Thanksgiving came into the feast day but celebrations were still of an ad hoc nature not an annual event.

With the celebration in 1879 it became a yearly holiday but in those days, like our American cousins, it was a Thursday in November.  And though the theme was often one of thanks for the harvest just as often it was to give thanks on the anniversary of a special event.  After the horror of World War One it was combined with Armistice Day as a day to be thankful for the sacrifices of those who died so that the bounty of the earth could be enjoyed.  In 1931 they became separate holidays - November 11 as Remembrance Day - and normally the second Monday in October as a day of Thanksgiving.  It was not until 1957 that the day was officially set. 

The Shakers have always fascinated me and though the foundation of their faith was Church of England they were a people much persecuted both in England and in their new home in the United States.  However their legacy has been far reaching in so many areas and their music was one of the many "gifts" that they gave the world.  The most famous of their many hymns is one of Thanksgiving - Simple Gifts celebrates exactly that the simple gifts for which we should all be thankful.

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd,

To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.

Elder Joseph Brackett

1848 - Alfred Community, Maine

As with most of us I often forget the many things and more especially the many people that I have reason to give thanks for at this time of my life.  So I will simply give thanks for being given my own "valley of love and delight."


09 ottobre/October - Giorno del Ringraziamento

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family!

Thanksgiving this year is quieter than normal; Laurent is in Greece with his Dad - at this point they are in Santorini - so festivities were limited to the Canadian Club of Rome annual lunch yesterday afternoon. This year it was held in a very hard to find but great Trattoria di dui ponit out on the Via Flaminia. I was glad my cab driver wasn't the only one who got lost - most of us (even old Roman hands) went around in circles for 20 or 30 minutes (not hard to do when the street numbers suddenly jump from 278 to 858) which meant a glass of wine was called for immediately upon arrival.

What followed was a wonderful Thanksgiving menu with an Italian twist:

After salami, fried vegetables and grilled olive oil soaked bread we tucked into a very untraditional primi. Because of my gluten thing the trattoria did a corn pasta with fresh porcini mushrooms (its that season again) for me.


Though turkey (tacchino) is popular here it is mostly in scallops, legs or breasts - roasting a whole turkey is not a done thing- most people don't have an oven that would be big enough. I'm sure its only me but I find poultry here has a moisture to it that back in Canada seems can only be achieved by brining. Mind you it could also be that our turkey yesterday was cooked in a huge wood burning oven. And what would Thanksgiving turkey be without cranberry sauce - straight from the can, just like mother use to make!


And to round off the meal - pumpkin pie! Pumpkin (zucca) is better known in Italy as a cooked vegetable. It often shows up as a ravioli stuffing or even better in the Ghetto lightly battered and deep fried. Put in this case we had a torte di zucca - and nothing canned about that filling.

So though it would have been a better thanksgiving if Laurent had been here - I may be mistaken but I think this is only the 2nd one we missed together in 33 years - it was still a great chance to see friends, share a meal and give thanks that we seem to have the best of both worlds.

And as I have done in the past I listened to a few of the old Harvest Hymns that we sang back in my church going days. My own particular favourite, which I've posted on here before,


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Again to all my friends, family and loved ones absent the happiest of Thanksgivings - we do have much to be thankful for.

11 ottobre - Giorno del Ringraziamento

And Fillith All Things Living With Plenitudinous

This will be our third Thanksgiving in Roma and as in past years we will be celebrating with friends. We will be feasting and giving thanks for what the Book of Common Prayer - surely one of the most beautiful pieces of English literature - quaintly calls "plentitudinous" in our lives.

And there is much to be thankful for. I will not rehearse everything but simply say that for all I have I give thanks and that includes all my dear friends who read this posting.

Though I no longer attend church I still enjoy the hymns that mark the seasons of the church calender; and as I have mentioned on several occasions Canadian Thanksgiving is based on the Church of England Harvest Thanksgiving Festival. The hymnal is filled with wonderful pieces for that particular season. "Now Thank We All Our God" is an old Luthern hymn dating back to the 1600s and translated into English in the mid 1800s. It has been included in most hymn books since then.

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We had our traditional Thanksgiving lunch today - a few Italian innovations when ingredients couldn't be found but just your basic Canadian Thanksgiving. Started off with Smokey Pumpkin Soup, followed by Turkey, roast potatoes, chicory, peas and prosciutto and then apple pie with cinnamon gelato. Wine, water, coffee and digestivi in the way of things liquid. And the good friendship of our dear friends Walter (Robert was attending the canonization of Father Damian), Vincenzo and Larry and a recent arrival here in Rome, Lionel. After an initial flurry of greeting Nicky and Nora - the hounds from hell - settled down to tear the head off a toy Vin and Larry had given them and we settled down to conversation, food and fellowship.

Vincenzo, Lionel, Laurent (holding a loaf of bread Lionel made this morning), Walter and Larry - the start of our Thanksgiving meal with dear friends.

So we had a glorious sunny day, a good (if I do say so) meal, good dogs and good friends. A plentitudinous indeed!

11 ottobre - Giorno del Ringraziamento

We Gather Together ...

And no I'm not early with this wish - for Canadians this weekend is Thanksgiving - hey the harvests come earlier when you live in an igloo! Also our holiday is based on the old Church of England calender which designated the second Sunday of October as Harvest Thanksgiving.

I remember this Hymn from my childhood as we celebrated the harvest in our small parish church - I love the pure Englishness of it being matched with what is obviously more than a flower show in this video.

We've celebrated Thanksgiving in Mexico, Egypt, Poland and when we lived in Chicago we had two - ours in October and American Thanksgiving in November. This will be the second year we've celebrated here in Rome and we are breaking with a few traditions. Because Laurent is heading for Tokyo early Monday morning we are having our Thanksgiving meal on Sunday as lunch - but in true Roman style not until around 2 pm which means we'll finish at 8 pm.

Where food is concerned we're going fusion and I don't mean tomato sauce on everything. Our Thanksgiving meal has always started with Smokey Pumpkin Soup but this year that will be replaced by Pumpkin Ravioli in a red pepper-cream sauce followed by the more traditional fare of the season with a few small changes. Its almost impossible to get a whole turkey here - the butcher looks at you as if you're mad that you would think he would even have such a thing. But you can buy turkey breast, thighs and drumsticks - though again when you ask for the whole breast the butcher regards you with some suspicion because you aren't asking him to cut it into scallops - so our guests will be dinning on turkey bits! And rather than the traditional green along with their whipped potatoes (with prosciutto and mozzarella) and glazed carrots our guests will be having sauted chicory with garlic and grilled zucchini. Desert will remain as it always has been, my friend Naomi's incredible Apple Mousseline with Zabaglione sauce - there are some traditions you just don't play with - except we just may get some fresh fig or chestnut gelato to go with it. Or maybe both!

One tradition that will continue is celebrating the festival with friends. Our old friend Ron and his partner Gord will be arriving early Sunday morning and joining us and our Roman friends Larry and Vin. I've lost count of the number of holiday meals we've shared with Ron but it will be wonderful to have him and Gord here with us this year.

To all our other friends - we wish we could gather around the table with you as we have in years past but as lunch starts on Sunday we'll be toasting you one and all.

And I leave you with this little poem from my friend Carole Collette:

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

09 ottobre - San Daniele Comboni