Thanksgiving is one of my favourite holidays. It is time when friends, neighbours and family gather to celebrate the harvest, and life’s many challenges and blessings. The days are crisp and landscapes are dressed in brilliant colours of yellows, oranges and reds, a final shout out to the bounty of spring and summer before the white blanket of winter covers all.
I am sure we all have Thanksgiving stories of family celebrations that were filled with laugher, good food, family and friends. Some even have stories where things did not go well. I distinctly remember the time I forgot to put the sugar in the pumpkin pie I had made from scratch and was so proud of. I learned quickly that it didn’t matter that I had used a fresh pumpkin, cleaned out all the stringy stuff from inside to access the beautiful meat but still needed to add sugar to the mix. Why did we think as kids getting our hands in all that stuff was so much fun? Pumpkin pie is the climax of Thanksgiving dinner and no pie meant the meal was a failure! No one seemed to remember the delicious turkey & stuffing, sweet potatoes and homemade cranberry sauce. While this story and many others seem like the end of the world at the time, they are now precious memories of lessons learned, time with family and how blessed we were to be enjoying and sharing good food with loved ones.
Canadian by birth but raised in the US, we celebrate Thanksgiving twice each year. In October we celebrate the Canadian Thanksgiving with all the same preparations that my Mom used and in November we celebrate my husband’s American/German heritage with specialties from his side of the family. And why not? I love Thanksgiving!
Wells Gray Tours loves Thanksgiving as well and we have two special tours planned for all you turkey lovers.
From the Interior of BC: Leave the cooking and dishes behind, gather friends and family and join us for Thanksgiving in Parksville. Fun, entertainment and of course a delicious turkey dinner with all the fixings are sure to make this Thanksgiving memorable.
From Victoria: We invite you to join us on a journey to Portland, Oregon to enjoy a American Thanksgiving feast, shopping, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and musical theatre entertainment.
Written by: Joan Niemeier
