Happy Turkey Day Canada

Downey Woodpecker
Originally uploaded by *Bundy*

One of my favourite holidays is upon us here in the Great White North once again. It's Thanksgiving!

Yes, in Canada we celebrate Thanksgiving at harvest time which is at the start of October and always on a Monday. We don't wait until late November like our neighbours to the south.

I always try to think of things to be thankful for and most years these things don't change much. I give thanks for my health, family, good friends...the usual stuff.

This year I'd like to give thanks for my golf game except I've been playing bloody awful since about mid-August. So I'm thankful that it's getting colder and soon the golf season will be over.

Also this year I'm thankful that I've been able to lose some weight. At last count I was down about 78 pounds. However, with all the turkey, potatoes, gravy and leftovers I'm likely to consume over the next few days, I probably won't be thankful that I have to starve myself and get a lot more walking in to make up for my indulgences.

Oh well, it's a small price to pay. I mean, it's not like I eat turkey all the time. I can count the number of times I get this favourite fowl. Lets see, there's Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. That's pretty much it unless it's a special occasion but they don't happen very often.

So I hope all of you who find yourselves celebrating Thanksgiving today, tomorrow or at some other time during the year take a moment to think about all of the good things in your life and give thanks.

I've learned over the years that there can and will be difficult challenges we will be forced to deal with but in the end it's good to be thankful for all we are blessed with every day.

Franklin Gets No Respect

Today was Thanksgiving in the United States and although I reside in Canada, I was able to watch and enjoy one of my favourite cartoons that I watched every year as a child.

This of course was "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving".

Now as an innocent child of the 1970's I never gave the cartoon much thought. It was just Chuck, Peppermint Patty, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy and the gang sharing their Thanksgiving experience.

But tonight I noticed something I hadn't in the past...the cartoon was a little racist.

Now I don't know if it was intended to be that way or not but it certainly would appear that poor Franklin, the only black kid in town, was treated in a way that might even upset the Reverend Al Sharpton.

I am of course speaking of the infamous outdoor dinner scene.

The table is clearly segregated. The white kids on one side and Franklin has to sit by himself all alone on the other side. Not only that but Franklin gets stuck with the broken lawn chair that forces him to sit lower than the rest of them.

Seriously...how come he can't sit with the white kids? Maybe he was just supposed to feel grateful for the invite to enjoy the toast, popcorn and pretzel dinner. Not only that but he isn't even given any lines while at the table. The least they could have done was have him ask someone to pass the butter.

Perhaps I'm just reading too much into it but this really stood out to me. But don't feel too badly for poor Franklin, he went on to enjoy a successful singing career that all began in the back of Charlie Brown's parents station wagon with a rousing rendition of "Over the river and through the woods". Now he enjoys Thanksgiving in his own mansion while Charlie Brown is still trying to kick his crack habit.

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted to take a quick moment to wish all of you Canadians who visits my blog a very Happy Thanksgiving weekend.

While many will take the extra day off to recover from eating too much good food, I hope everyone will find the time to use the day for something even better.

Give thanks for all that you have...whether it's the family and friends who you share your life with every day or just for the short time each of us has on this earth.

Tough times test us all throughout our lives but it's days like this that hopefully force us to think about what and who truly matters.

Plus, it's also a good reason to stuff ourselves silly to an uncomfortable point with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and all the fix-ins.

October This and That

I was just sitting in front of the computer and figured I should probably post an update on the blog but I really don't have any particular topic that has peaked my interest lately.

My Habs have been playing fairly well despite a bad night tonight in Vancouver and the fact they're starting the season with a long road trip and the Leafs haven't won a game yet, so that's all good. Plus my hockey pool has begun and that helps to keep the season interesting.

The world has been dealing with some crazy stuff lately with typhoon's, tsunami's and earthquakes and thankfully none of it has really affected me at all other than feeling sorry for those who have suffered.

I tried my luck at Geocaching the other day but gave up after about ten minutes. I just don't have the patience to trek through the bush looking for hidden "treasures" just for the heck of it. If I was searching for the secret location of a group of undersexed sorority girls then that might prove to be a bit more motivating.

I went out golfing earlier tonight for the first time in about a month and it wasn't a compete failure. It was cool, the winds were blowing at about 1000 km/h and my tee shots looked great until I made contact with the ball. Eventually the sun came out and the colours of the leaves on the trees were amazing. I had a lot of fun golfing with the guys. Truth be told...I've golfed a lot worse and actually hit a few good tee shots. My putting sucked though. Hopefully I play better on the 17th as I take part in the annual Terry Fox Golf Tournament.

Thanksgiving is coming up on Monday and I'll be working all day so that won't be too exciting. On the plus side I'll be enjoying some delicious dead fowl drowning in golden gravy on Sunday night. I love my mothers cooking.

And the other day I had some fun watching the local Air Force Search and Rescue Techs practicing their skills on the bay south of Brighton. Of course, I had my camera in hand and managed to snap a few frames (see below). I've seen this stuff before but it's still impressive to watch as they drop guys in wetsuits into the water and then come around to pluck them out over and over.

So aside from some boring work related stuff, that's about all I've been up to lately. I hope your life is more interesting than mine.

Copyright © All rights reserved.

Copyright © All rights reserved.

Happy Thanksgiving Fellow Canucks

I was going to sit here and type out some of the reasons I have to be thankful this holiday but decided I'd spare you of all that crap.

Everyone in my family is healthy, as far as I know, and that's about all we can ask for. Actually, a longer summer would be nice.

Suffice to say things could be a lot worse and they can always be better. I'm right there in the middle and meaty part of the "giving thanks" curve.

As long as the turkey is cooked, the potatoes are mashed, the gravy isn't lumpy and the vegetables aren't al dente I'll be happy. If I can push myself away from the table, roll my big butt into the living room to the comfy chair, undo my pants and watch some TV, it will be a great day.

Of course the sad news is I'm working the entire weekend which is good and bad.
Good: because I can always use the hours and the money.
Bad: because it's another long weekend where the weather is great, I could have been golfing and seeing friends and just enjoying life a little.

Oh well, there's always next weekend. My luck; it will probably rain.

Any way, Happy Thanksgiving everyone and don't forget to vote on Tuesday in the Federal Election. As I always say...if you don't vote, you can't complain.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish all of you who visit my Blog and all my family and friends a Very Happy Thanksgiving.

I figured I'd better post this now before I have my big meal on Sunday night. I have a feeling I'll be eating so much that my fingers might get too fat to punch the letters on my keyboard.

It's this time of year when we start to think about what we are truly thankful for and with my life going through some difficult times the last year I thought it would be hard to find anything to be thankful about.

The truth is, I'm very thankful for the love of my family who mean everything to me. Although I knew it all along they've proven that they really are there for me when I need them.

And I'm thankful for the friends I've had through the years and today. They've made life much more interesting and worth living.

And considering the hell I've put my body through for the last 37 years, I'm very thankful for my health. You'd never no it by looking at me but I'm not doing too bad for a guy like me. It's amazing how the right amount of medication will take away the pain.

I hope you all have as much to be thankful for as I do.