This has been an interesting year. I had a replacement of a knee replacement that slowed my travels for a while, and is still being a bit of a pain. On the positive side, I was able to travel to Nevada twice to help work with my sisters to work on assembling my youngest sister’s Gothic Arch house. Two trips across this beautiful country, and dozens of nights camping on BLM land leave me thankful for the freedoms we still enjoy.
I watched sunrises and sunsets from Ohio to Washington, traveling across the country on Interstate 94. I went south to Nevada, enjoying the scenery over the mountains as I drove. My military son is in South Carolina, so I stopped and saw him. I saw the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean, and marveled at the timelessness of the waves marching to shore. I watched sandpipers dancing with the waves as they hunted their breakfast.
Thanksgiving is one holiday that all Americans, regardless of religious beliefs, can celebrate together. It has been nearly 400 years since the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast. This was the beginning of American Thanksgiving celebrations. As years passed, the colonists celebrated at different times in different colonies. In 1789, President George Washington became the first president to proclaim a Thanksgiving holiday, when he proclaimed November 26, a Thursday, as a day of national thanksgiving for the U.S. Constitution. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared that Thanksgiving would be on the last Thursday in November, and subsequent presidents followed this pattern until Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed a bill into law on November 26, 1941, officially making the fourth Thursday in November the national holiday of Thanksgiving Day.
So let us each take some time to look at the positives, the things that have gone well this year, rather than focusing on all of the things that seem to have gone wrong. IF you are in reasonably food health – be thankful. If you have a job or income to pay your bills, and maybe a bit extra – be thankful. If you have a roof over your head – be thankful. If you have food on the table – be thankful. If you have the luxury of fabric and a way to sew with it – be thankful. Above all, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever. Thanksgiving blessings to each and every one of you, and to your loved ones as well. I will see you all on Monday, when I will continue introducing new Quilt Shops.