Thinking thankfully this season is important
I have said many times before that Fall is my favorite season, and we never seem to get enough of it.
In recent weeks we seem to have gone directly from summer to winter, with temperatures in the 30s, and even a day or two in the 20s. But I am grateful for the Fall that we have had, for the beautiful fall colors, and for the Fall that I think we will yet have. Not only is Fall my favorite time of year, Thanksgiving is at the heart of making it the favorite. I’m very glad that we have Thanksgiving as a national holiday.
Although it is not clear that Thanksgivings are always celebrated with giving of thanks, the reminder is always there, and I think it is a most wholesome reminder to give thanks for our blessings. I am a believer that giving thanks not only recognizes that many or most of our blessings come from God and from the kindnesses of others, but giving thanks also sensitizes us to appreciate our blessings more fully when they come. People who live by the notion of being thankful are just happier, more appreciative people.
Many of us are taught early in life to say “thank you.” Our parents, when someone does something nice for us, or gives us a gift, will prompt us with a “what do you say?” And we say, “thank you.” It may sometimes be a dutiful saying of the words, but it nevertheless reminds us that kindness and thoughtfulness shown toward us is not to be taken for granted or passed off like nothing, but is to be noted and appreciated. Eventually, hopefully, we come to realize that saying “thank you” is not only a nice thing for someone to hear when they have done us a thoughtful deed, but it actually adds to the fullness of our own appreciation and enjoyment of those blessings.
Thanksgiving is usually a time for getting together with family. Today’s families tend to be separated over the expanse of our United States. Whereas before World War II our families tended to be located in one place and to stay there for a lifetime, the 1940s began to spread us over the country, usually moved by jobs to be taken, and working in industry began to become more common while kinfolk on the farm became fewer. We relish the times to be together again, to see faces again, to see how the children have grown, to welcome new members of the family, and to cement the ties that bind us together as a family.
Thanksgiving always seems to come with food, an abundance of it. The thanksgiving turkey has become a long-standing tradition. I always also think of pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie is one of my favorites, along with apple pie, peach cobbler, blackberry cobbler, cherry pie, gooseberry pie, chocolate pie, banana pudding and others. Some of our people used to say, “I only like two kinds of pie — hot and cold.” I am not one to say that, I like cold pie better. Of course, hot pie is great, too.
When I was a boy, we didn’t have any turkeys, so we always had fried chicken for Thanksgiving. Fried chicken was for special occasions. We had more pork than anything else in the early days, but we had chickens. Mostly we kept chickens to produce hatching eggs. The broiler industry was beginning to boom in the 1940s, led by Webb’s Feed and Seed and Webb’s Hatchery in Pea Ridge. We sold hatching eggs to Webb’s Hatchery, and they hatched the chicks to become broilers in the numerous new broiler houses that were being built. But chicken was also for the dinner table.
We often had fried chicken for Sunday dinner (the noon meal after church), and especially on other special occasions like Thanksgiving. I enjoy eating turkey these days, since we can easily buy one at the grocery store, especially when you add some ham with the turkey, and dressing and beans and corn and potatoes and carrots and broccoli and cauliflower, and rolls and cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie with Cool Whip.
Thanksgiving may also feature football. Football, in our family, is of mixed interest. Quite often watching a football game is something a family can enjoy doing together. Our family in general roots for the Razorbacks, although I can’t say we are avid fans of any certain team.
We tend to pick our team on the spot, as we see the game developing, and we may root for the underdog just hoping for a miraculous upset. I heard the other day that Alabama lost one of their games this year. Bless ’em. Our Razorbacks lost a few games this year, too. Too bad!
Maybe next year will be better.
We Americans seem to have trouble keeping our holidays focused on their original intent. We seem to let Christmas lose its focus on the Christ, with all the gift-buying and stuff.
We have trouble at Easter time that new clothes and stylishness seems as prominent in the celebration as the Resurrection.
We have trouble at Memorial Day that it becomes a day for barbecue and going to the lake rather than remembering those who have served our country in times of war.
And, at Thanksgiving, the food and football may eclipse the thankfulness. But I hope not. It need not be so. Thanksgiving I think has a way of refreshing our optimism, renewing our hopes, and stirring in us greater confidence in and appreciation of the opportunities we have in life.
The Lord continue to bless us, every one!
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Editor’s note: This column was originally published on Dec. 4, 2019. Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge and an award-winning columnist, was vice president of Pea Ridge Historical Society.