Rant over.

[petrya]

It's amazing what a few hours of rest and a cup of spicy tea will do for a person. Needless to say, I got a new perspective on my portfolio and myother immediate problem. *Chuckling at self* The last few weeks have been nerve wracking to the point that most people in my lot would have chucked everything and started over afresh. Instead, I try

Comments

[metal_rabbit]

Refresh my memory (as one who lives in the Olde Worlde) - what exactly is Thanksgiving giving thanks for? Is there a specific occasion that is celebrated, on a specific date?

[petrya]

Basically, it was a day set aside to give thanks for the blessings of the year, but it wasn't ascribed a specific date until 1863:

The holiday we know today as Thanksgiving was recommended to Lincoln by Sarah Josepha Hale, a prominent magazine editor. Her letters to Lincoln urged him to have the "day of our annual Thanksgiving made a National and fixed Union Festival." The document below sets apart the last Thursday of November "as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise."

According to an April 1, 1864 letter from John Nicolay, one of Lincoln's secretaries, this document was written by Secretary of State William Seward, and the original was in his handwriting. Fellow Cabinet member Gideon Welles recorded in his diary on October 3 that he complimented Seward on his work. A year later, the manuscript was sold to benefit Union troops and since then has disappeared.

Lincoln's Proclamation

Some are lead to believe it started with the romantic notion of the Pilgrims setting down to share a meal with the Native Americans

Fact: According to

[metal_rabbit]

no, just the right amount, actually (remember that i have a craving for knowledge). thank you so much for explaining it all.

still seems - erm - shall we say "idiosyncratic"... - mind you, i'm sure some of our holidays are as weird.

(why *blush*?)

[petrya]

Childhood labeling. To my brothers and father, my thirst for knowledge appeared too unseemingly for my gender. Fortunately my mom's side of the family didn't feel that way.

[kdiggitydoggy]

ugh. Life has been hectic hasn't it?