Thankful Options ...

Summer’s done, done, done! In fact, we had light snow flurries in Birch Bay off and on today, with more snow forecast for the weekend.

Halloween came and went.

It is now the week before Thanksgiving. What? Really!

What to do for Thanksgiving 2010 tumble around in my thoughts. I am grateful I have friends and relatives who have invited me to join them for Thanksgiving dinner; the aroma of roasting turkey, sinking my choppers into whipped potatoes and gravy, finished up with pecan pie and a dollop of whipped cream.

Lovely, indeed!

I’ve been watching the geese and the ducks migrating through the bay, and I thought that in the accounts that I've read of that first Thanksgiving between the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims, turkey wasn’t even mentioned. They had duck and venison, and the diners likely enjoyed seafood, cabbage, onions, corn and squash.

Then Janet McCall at The Northern Light mentioned on Facebook about re-thinking Thanksgiving Dinner from a locavore perspective. She brought up the idea of locally caught crab, clams and even Washington white fish available at Barlean’s Fishery.

All this mulling over food options; has Thanksgiving has been reduced to food? So it would seem.

This year I’ve decided that food is not going to be my primary focus. I can wine and dine with family and friends any day of the year. I read in the newspaper that volunteers are needed to help serve Thanksgiving dinner sponsored by the American Legion Post 86, at the Blaine Senior Center. A quick phone call and my Thanksgiving plans are settled.

I’m thankful for the abundance I enjoy, the loving family and close friends in my life. I’m grateful for the freedoms I enjoy by living in this great country.

But, this year I'm opting to spend Thanksgiving by serving a hot turkey dinner to folks in my community.