Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Besides the days-off aspect, I've never been much of a holiday person. I'm not saying, "Bah humbug," but I always resented the fact that on a day I didn't have to work, I couldn't just spend it all in bed. On holidays, you have to force yourself to have a good time because no one wants to hear your sob story when they ask, "How was your holiday?"

Thanksgiving, though, was always the one for which I had a soft spot. I'm no fan of turkey, so that was never much of a draw, and pumpkin pie is never my first choice when I'm craving dessert. I loved the idea of the entire family gathered around the dinner table passing dishes and sharing stories, and afterwards, watching The Sound of Music, or whatever classic was on TV that evening. Most of all, though, I loved Thanksgiving because it's the one holiday that always came with two days off instead of just one. Yes, Turkey Day might be the single thing I miss most about living in the United States.

Today my brother reminded me of my earliest experiment in poetry and public speaking when I was in fifth grade. It happened to coincide with Thanksgiving season. My class was assigned to write a poem celebrating Thanksgiving, and the teacher liked mine so much that he made me recite it in front of the entire class. I could have sworn a few of my fellow students were fighting back laughter!

Reading it after all these years, I have to ask myself, "What was he thinking?" But I suppose beautiful prose is in the eye of the person reading it, or in the ear of whoever is hearing it. And I was only 10 years old at the time and a few months away from deciding that I wanted to be a journalist when I grew up. I had a long way to go!

Judge for yourself.

Thanksgiving is a time of love
To God up above

It's a time of thanks
Because the Mayflower could have sank

To the bottom of the sea
So as far as I can see

It's the best time of the year
To have a fair

With lots of turkey
But don't be a monkey

And eat more cake
Than you can take