Gathering And Giving

Posted By: Timothy Juhl

It is just about 45 hours before we all sit down to our Thanksgiving dinners and indulge in turkey and dressing and gravy.  Lots and lots of gravy.

It is a day when we gather with family and friends, and when you sit down to that meal, make sure you remember all those you love and those who are no longer here to share in giving thanks.  This will be my second holiday season since my partner, Jeff, died and I can finally smile when I think of his peculiar bent for jellied cranberry sauce, for 20 years, he had to bring his own can to my mother's because no one in my family ever liked cranberry sauce.  It was his own little tradition.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of my friends, both old and new, for supporting me in all my sorrows, my triumphs and my flights of fancy.  And I want to thank, Jeff McKown, for trusting me with his blog and giving me the opportunity to express my opinions, my tastes, and my humor.

And don't think this will be the last time I post something here.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Our Thanksgiving in Pictures (Portrayed By the Publix Pilgrim Salt and Pepper Shakers)

This year Paul and I enjoyed a holiday that included most of our usual Thanksgiving activities and traditions. My goal was to capture the events of the day in pictures and share them on the blog, but since we never left our pajamas, I decided we needed to employ our understudies.

In the photos below, we will be portrayed by the Publix Pilgrim Shaker Set. The part of Jeff will be played by Salt, while Paul is depicted by Pepper. What Salt and Pepper lack in charm and animation, they hopefully make up for in realistic and appropriate Thanksgiving garb.

We started the day with mimosas...         ...and then got busy cooking.

Next we called our loved ones...         ...and watched football games all day.

Later we enjoyed a tasty dinner...        ...but then our turkey comas set in.

Of course we still had "work" to do...    ...but we finished before the sunset.

In the end we were grateful for a peaceful day. Hope your day was nice too.

Boycott Stores on Thanksgiving and Christmas

Big box retailers Target, Toys-R-Us, and Best Buy are among the chain stores who will open their doors at midnight or even earlier this year on Thanksgiving night.

I won't be there to greet the holiday shopping season, and for that matter I won't spend a dime in any store anywhere on Thanksgiving day or Christmas day.

Enough is enough.


For salivating shoppers who have created a holiday tradition out of attending "black Friday" door-buster sales, these midnight openings may add a fun and twisted new element to the holiday shopping circus. For tens of thousands of retail employees though, this represents another thoughtless business decision that further separates people from the essence of what makes holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas special - the opportunity to take a single day away from the rat race, to breathe deep and reflect on what really matters, and to spend quality time with people you love.

I understand, better than most, that retailers are scrounging increasingly harder every year to capture their piece of the all-important Christmas pie, and frankly, while the commercialization of Christmas can be a bit annoying from time to time, that's not what bothers me.