For some odd reason, I've had the privilege of "doing Thanksgiving" with a lot of different friends and families over the years. Because of this, and of course just from talking with others and reading things others have posted, I'm fairly certain that Thanksgiving means different things to different people.For some, it's their favorite annual holiday and fills them with joyous memories of Thanksgivings past and incredible anticipation of Thanksgivings to come. Some historian friends of mine seem fascinated by the historical aspects of the holiday -- the whole story of the pilgrims, etc. On the other end of the spectrum, I've actually encountered a few people who take offense at the very idea of this holiday (and they've got some convincing reasons to protest the wider celebrations)!

While all holidays are certainly "food-centric" by tradition, it's arguable that no other holiday (at least here in America) can match Thanksgiving's reputation in terms of feasting. It's kind of funny when you think about it because many holidays (or, "holy days") are actually traditionally observed by abstaining from food. So, there are fasts, and feasts. I think the majority view, based on my own sampling of various friend and family traditions, seems to be: It's mostly about having a huge meal. Yes, there is certainly an undercurrent of being thankful out there. A few families I've been with have had traditional, almost ceremonial, activities that went along with the meal (e.g., going around the room, taking turns stating what you're grateful for).

Mostly, I've only ever seen this in movie families. But, something in me really does like the idea of some kind of tradition along these lines. I'm drawn to the more ancient, broader historical significance of giving thanks to the land and to Mother Earth and in fact to the providence and grace of the whole Universe in special annual recognition of everything we've received over the past year -- another cycle complete, marked by the year's final harvest. This is yet another reason -- and we've stated many, many such reasons here over the years -- for getting back in touch with the Earth, for learning more about how wonderful plants are, and for reeducating ourselves about what constitutes real food and real nourishment.

If some of us in society can, even in our largely disconnected states, manage to feel some appreciation annually during a holiday specially entitled "Thanksgiving," imagine what the world would be like if a much larger percentage of people actually took part in growing their own food! Imagine the reverence then -- the honest, deep sense of gratitude that we would all feel, the new collective respect that might emerge for the stewardship we have for the land. No longer would grumpy old Uncle Bob groan and reluctantly force himself to come up with something he's thankful for during his "turn" in the spotlight. Instead, he would light up and enthusiastically, proudly state, "I'm thankful to have had the priviledge of caring for that entire field of pumpkin plants all season long, for watering them daily, for enriching the soil through my application of organics and biodynamics, for preserving and respecting their genetic code via these means, for simply walking among my leafy, viney friends all season, watching them produce these delicious, amazing pumpkins that we'll enjoy all winter -- and I'm thankful that they supplied us with seeds so that we can repeat the process yet again!"

Personally, I'm very excited, as you can tell, about just the prospect of growing more of my own food. So, I'm very grateful that my life is heading in that direction. (I'm also personally grateful for a ton of other wonderful things in my life!)? And we're grateful for the lessons we're learning along the way -- lessons like the rewards of living simply, and the necessity of living with patience. Wendi and I also spoke last night about how grateful we are to have made so many wonderful friends via Pure Jeevan. To us, you're family. The whole raw food community is such a pleasure to hang out with, to interact with, to learn new things from, and to teach what we've learned and discovered! We're very grateful to be in a position in which our lives will soon be dedicated to this community full-time. So, have a super Thanksgiving everyone -- or, as we all like to say in raw circles, have the Best Thanksgiving Ever!

I'll leave you with a shot of a past Thanksgiving meal, a raw feast prepared by Wendi back in 2007 (I think). Looks like she made stuffing, a spinach salad, "turkey" nuggets (from a recipe she found online somewhere), a soup, some crackers, some nog -- and I'm not sure what was in the glass bowl (appearing to be shredded white stuff). Mmmmm, that stuffing was tasty. Haven't had a good raw stuffing in a long time!