Thanksgiving Traditions Plus Killing and Dressing Your Bird


Since that time to stuff our faces and take naps after filling our bellies; I thought you may find it interesting to see how traditions are  for other people. I added some unusual facts in this too, for your information.

http://www.11points.com/Misc/11_Interesting_Facts_About_Popular_Thanksgiving_Traditions

The Pilgrims may not have eaten turkey… but they definitely ate a ton of shrimp and deer. At the first Thanksgiving — 1621 in Plymouth — there’s no hard evidence that anyone ate any turkey.

Thanksgiving wasn’t an official public holiday until Lincoln. This is pretty incredible, and I had absolutely no idea. Thanksgiving wasn’t an official public holiday until Lincoln took a break from, ya know, Civil War to make it one in 1863.

historical evidence doesn’t make any reference to cranberry sauce until 1663

 

http://hearinghealthmatters.org/hearinginternational/2011/thanksgiving-a-worldwide-tradition-for-centuries/

The Ancient Greeks held an autumn festival for three days known as Thesmosphoria.  It was celebrated to honor the Goddess Demeter, the deity of food grains. The festival was also related to fertility. Fertile married women would build a home for the Goddess to stay in the first day and equipped it with all the comforts of Ancient Greek society. These fertile women purified their souls and body by keeping a fast on the second day in her honor and then on the third day prepared a great feast.  Since Thesmosphoria came around harvest season, the specialties of the table included first fruits of the season, plump pigs, seed corn delicacies and yummy cakes.

In Rome Cerelia was celebrated on October 4thannually to honor Ceres, the Goddess of Corn. Offering made to Cerelia included the first fruits of the harvest and pigs.  Other highlights of Cerelia were a grand feast music, parades, games and sports.

The Chinese festival that resembles the US version of Thanksgiving Day is known as Chung Ch’ui. Chung Ch’ui is a three-day harvest festival celebrated on the full moon day of the 8th Chinese month and was believed by the Chinese to be the birthday of the moon. The specialty of the festival is its round and yellow ‘moon cakes’ with an image of rabbit on them. The Chung Ch’ui feast featured roasted pigs and first fruits of the harvest. A Chinese legend has that anyone who sees flowers falling from the moon on this day is blessed with a good fortune.

The Jewish harvest festival is known as  ‘Sukkoth’.  For more than 3000 years, the autumn festival also known by the names of ‘Hag ha Succot’ or ‘The Feast of the Tabernacles’ and ‘Hag ha Asif’ or ‘The Feast of Ingathering.’  This eight-day long festival is to remind the people of the hardships and sufferings of Moses and the Israelites while they were wandering in the desert for forty years. Succots were actually the makeshift huts or tents built of branches symbolizing the tabernacles of their ancestors. They were used to hang fruits from the roof of these huts such as apples, grapes, corn, and pomegranates.

How Turkeys Hear!

I know that you have been dying to learn how a turkey hears as this will be essential in bagging one in the wild for your Thanksgiving dinner.  Although they do not have ear lobes or flaps to funnel in sound waves, the ears of hens and gobblers are small holes in the sides of their heads and they have very acute hearing. They can home into the calling of another turkey or a hunter, and pinpoint the source of the calls with remarkable precision, often up to a mile away.

For those who are serious about killing and dressing your very own turkey, I have provided a video to help you. Although I am not interested in learning, I did watch the video and was fascinated at the process.

CHANGE MYSELF


I am going to try to do something I have pondered on before but always put it on the back burner. Why, you ask would I do that if I thought it? Because, it is hard work, and most of the time my brain is just too tired. Sounds like a lazy excuse doesn’t it?

My brain is just beginning to focus on important things once again. For so many years I had one focus, my brother. Now I am beginning to think about me. Not in a selfish way, but more of what I would call a healthy way.

So I wrote a poem to myself and would love to share it with you who enjoy reading my poems.

 

CHANGE MYSELF

Love like I never loved before

Look at life not today but even more

Find the beauty on the outside

Look very deep and very wide

Bite my tongue don’t say that word

Don’t flip the finger don’t give the bird

Do something nice for them today

I know in my heart its the only way

Get out of bed and say thank-you God

For allowing my feet to touch the sod

Smile even though you don’t feel like it

Get rid of the attitude I don’t give a shit

I believe if I do these things I say

I will have a much better day.

Written by,

Terry Shepherd

Terry’s Thoughts in Poetry

Facebook

08.20.2014

 

 

 

 

 

Two Awards, Beautiful Blogger Award, And Moonlight Blogger Award


http://myspanishtranslator.wordpress.com

Ingrid has nominated me for the beautiful blogger award. I have recently met Ingrid, and she is a beautiful, bilingual person. She is able to speak Spanish and English. She even teaches free Spanish lessons over on U-Tube, which I am going to go over and relearn also. I majored in Spanish, in high school, but remember very little. Now I can help myself and be able to help others. Thank you Ingrid!

The rules are to mention the nominator

Say seven things about yourself

Nominate others.

I took my brother to an automotive restaurant to eat supper yesterday!

I nominate

http://corporateskirts.wordpress.com/

 

 

 

 

http://paulaacton.wordpress.com

Paula has nominated me for an award also. It is the Moonlight Blogger Award.

Paula has always given me so much encouragement and offers Al and me prayers. I am so lucky and grateful to have a nice friend like her.

The rules for this award are

The first rule thanks the person who nominated you!

Second rule Tell your followers about either your favorite book or film

Third rule Close your eyes pick a number between 1 – 7 then nominate that number of blogs

My favorite book is called Black Like Me. It is about a while male who goes to a doctor and has injections to turn his skin black. Then he goes back into his familiar neighborhood to live once again, but now he describes what it is like to be around different cultures. This is a true and sad story, as there is too much racism in the world today. Maybe you will also enjoy it!

My nominees are:)

Kadeen
deenakdrowaln.wordpress.com

 

Once again, thank you Ingrid and Paula! I have felt honored to have met you here on WordPress, and feel so lucky that the two of you I call my friends.

 

My Gift to You


 

I posted a link for myself and for all others that blog here with me. I, myself, am alright today, but inside I am crying. I am trying to stay strong, but I know my life is about to have a big change made.

If anyone of you has suffered or are suffering now from anything in your life, and you believe in our almighty God,  please copy and paste this, and watch and listen. It is helping me today, so I wanted to share this with the ones in my life that I care about so much.

This just isn’t a writing blog site to me, it has become personal. I share my tears, and fears and laughter with you. I read also your stories of pain, and sorrow, and tears and fears.

This is my gift to you,

May God Bless you all.

Terry