A good friend wrote to me from South Africa that (I’m paraphrasing here) “the US blogs are abuzz with Thanksgiving – must be a big deal there!”
Since I grew up with it, I sometimes forget that to most people in the world, it’s just this weird holiday they hear about in the papers or movies. Even over the 6 years I was in Johannesburg, and 2 in Ireland, I made a big dinner every year.
Yeh, it’s a big deal. We all go home, eat a ridiculous amount, and fix our parents’ computers while they watch football. Very important. (Full disclosure: I stole 1/3rd of that joke from Cory Doctorow from his iCommons talk in Croatia last summer. Feel free to guess which third.) This year I spend it with some new friends here in Milwaukee.
Sincerely, a great holiday where we are given time and space to reflect on the year and all that we have to be thankful for. I know it always reminds me just how lucky I am.
