Turkey Lurkey

As much as I claim to hate Americans and all things U.S. of A, I have to admit I have many friends that are of that particular persuasion. So today I would just like to say a little about Thanksgiving.

In a nation of immigrants, its rare that a country can manage to maintain, or create, its own identity! Remember the Americas were only discovered in the 15th century. Or at least that's what history teaches us. The Vikings (albeit briefly) were the first settlers 400 years earlier.

I digress. Enough of the history lesson.

The USA only has two national holidays that are of its own creation. Labor Day and Thanksgiving. I'm going to ignore Independence Day in this as many countries have a national day. Australia has Australia Day (funnily enough!) each January. In New Zealand, they have Waitangi Day each February.

I have issues with Labor Day. Firstly, its the way its spelt. Come on guys, this is the ENGLISH Language, so use it properly! Words have the letter 'u' in them after the 'o' for a reason, it helps with pronunciation. Secondly, most of the world works for a living. Is that really a reason to have a national holiday??? I think not.

Thanksgiving however is different. It does actually celebrate something. It celebrates the coming together of two nations. The indigenous people and true landowners of America and the Settlers. The latter we should remember were saved from starvation and failure and then went on to rape, pillage, murder and displace.

To this day, restitution has still not been made.

It also marks the start of the 'Holiday Season'. From now until New Year, North America is in full Christmas mode. And as much as I've just slated this time of year, I do enjoy it over there. We Brits complain that bigger is not always better. But at this time of year, well those yanks certainly know what they're doing! Christmas cheer is alive and well and has a Green Card!

So for my friends, Will & Des, Junior, Julie, Mrs V, Roger, Steve, Greg, Marsha, Jordan, Cissy & May, Ray, Bruce and last but by no means least, Ian.

I love you all dearly and wish you a happy happy day!