Happy Thanksgiving

A trotting turkey at the 2017 Berbee Derby.
11/23/2017 dwm photo

Blogger's note: It's Thursday, but also a holiday which is why there is no covered bridge today.  Please return next week as the series continues in Putnam County, Indiana with a visit to the Rolling Stone bridge.

We are expecting the boys to come home for Thanksgiving this year with an extra chair set for an addition to the family, a daughter-in-law.

As Thanksgiving celebrations go it may be small, but giving thanks isn't about the number of chairs around the table or the amount of food they collectively eat.

Maybe more than any other national holiday - Thanksgiving continues to be focused on its mission.  Christmas, Memorial Day, and St. Patrick's Day are widely celebrated but the meaning of those days is sometimes lost in the presents, fun, and parties.

Just about 400 years ago, in 1621, the early settlers at the Plymouth Colony gave thanks with Native Americans who taught them how to catch the local fish and what crops to raise.

It was celebrated as a national observance consistently after that - even before the United States was formed.  But it was President Abraham Lincoln who declared the last Thursday of November a National Day of Thanksgiving.  In 1939, when November had five Thursdays, President Franklin Roosevelt created the current tradition by setting the day of thanks on the fourth Thursday.

Lots of us will pause to give thanks for our many blessings and those we enjoy as a nation.  Some will spend some of the day serving and feeding fellow citizens who might not have a fancy feast.

You can go around the table sharing what you are thankful for this year.  You can try writing Turkey Notes - a tradition that began in Davenport, Iowa according to the Quad City Times.

Turkey day, Turkey night, Give your thanks, With all your might!

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Turkey breast, turkey stew, turkey salad, I still love you!

I'm thankful for good health; for my wife and children; for our daughter-in-law; for a challenging and rewarding vocation; for a free country in which to live; and especially a loving God (who) so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for taking the time to read "They used to call me Pointdexter."