This time of year, we have one thing to think about - Thanksgiving. I believe this holiday is starting to actually eclipse my love for Halloween as my favorite holiday. Shhh... I didn't say that out loud!!
But Thanksgiving means a lot to me in a variety of ways. First, it is a food centric holiday on all fronts. I love me some food! I love cooking food. I love how food tastes! I love a warm kitchen! I love my double oven!
Thanksgiving is a time of giving thanks. Anyone can do this. There is no religion, gender or bias in giving thanks. We can give thanks to anything and anyone we want. We can do it any day, but I especially like that we have an entire day devoted to giving thanks.
And there are so many thanks to give on a food-centric holiday! Thank my local farming friends for growing the veggies that we eat. Thank my turkey for giving its life for us to eat. Thank all my animals for their lives, love and companionship. It all comes together.
Thanksgiving also heralds in our short winter rest. We say goodbye to most of our birds. We say goodbye to a steer and several lambs - preparing for the winter and filling our freezers. The work load on the farm slows to a trickle, though it also gets tricky to accomplish in the wind and snow. But it brings in a time of less work, and more time to ponder and plan for next year. We have a lot to ponder this year.
But from now until turkey day - we still have turkeys to care for in this final stretch. A few more weeks of keeping them happy and healthy in who-knows-what weather comes our way. Stashing birds in the greenhouse or in the barn to make sure everyone has a place to be warm and dry just for a little while longer.
This is where we hope the predators don't get enthusiastic. This is where we hope no bird hides under a bush in the snow, and we miss her one night and she doesn't survive. Just a few more days, everyone - tough it out for a few more days... then we get hit with the longest 3 days on the farm. THEN - SLEEP. Then eat. Then hibernate. OH, to be a bear!