Thanksgiving-- last Thursday of November in US

 

images from Stencil

Next Thursday in the United States is Thanksgiving, the fourth Thursday in November-- officially since Abraham Lincoln declared it so, though it had been celebrated earlier. It has some typical traditions, which are often ignored. 

The idea is a day of being thankful, eating a lot of food, and gathering with loved ones. Its traditional basis was supposed to be the first European arrivals being gifted with a feast by their Native American hosts (wanted or not). In the US, it's gotten to be a bit controversial with some feeling it should not be celebrated but rather embarrassed by the effect of the new migrants taking Native lands and killing to do it.

But the concept to me, of a day to think about the good in life, is positive, no matter its history. In my life it was a major celebration with extended family when I was young and then family and friends as I got my own home and began cooking it.

Today for Ranch Boss and me, it's a day of diminished results but good memories. We do not live close to family; so it's just us. We don't have the friends we had in Oregon, as when we decided to live longer in Arizona, was right when Covid hit. We hunkered down as did many. Now I have some physical limitations that play a role in just a few nearby friends, who are great but have their own families for such celebrations.

Some years, we'd fix a full turkey with the trimmings. This year we just bought a turkey breast with plans for some limited trimmings. Overeating when elderly does not feel good. The pumpkin pie will come from the grocery store's bakery and not made by me. I've done them though using a whole pumpkin to start. That's really good but not worth the work for just two people. No more fixing cranberries, the whole berry way, as neither of us care for it. We won't overeat (due to above reason) and will have leftovers. 

I got curious about how others celebrate a Thanksgiving or if they do. Turns out France does not, but here is a link to those who do, not on our date but one of their own.

Thanksgiving Around the World 

Universe Truths?

 

 When I woke up one morning last week, my dominant thought was about the universe. I lay, thinking of how this works for us as human beings on one planet in that universe. I guess that such wondering always has happened, as soon as we could think beyond how to capture food.

Basically, we think on several levels. The first is likely most primal-- bodily. How are we physically doing? If it's not as we wish, what should we do about it. When that goes wrong, likely it's the whole of our wondering until it gets fixed-- if it does. This is not true for everyone, of course, like Stephen Hawking, who did a lot of thinking beyond himself despite a horrendous illness.

The next level is what I'd call close community. This means family, friends, those we care about. If that's good, we can go on.

Next is the broader community, our country. This is where our religious and political concerns come into play. Is it governing as we ourselves would like? Where it comes to religion, is it working for the good of that broader community? Somewhere in there humans figure out their take on the spirit side of life. If they find religious answers for behavior, forever, a god, that might end their explorations.

For many, it is then time to look at the world beyond our piece of it, other countries. Are they getting out of control, as once Germany did, what should we want done about that?

Only then, do we look to the broader universe, planets and stars beyond ours. Are those aliens visiting us; and if they are, is it for good or negative purposes?

There are a myriad of stars out there to wonder about. Do they have life on them? Does it matter if they are light years away? Do they visit us? Are there worm holes through which to travel past time constraints? This is all being studied by those with more tools than I have or even want.

The theory that the universe has a beginning (big bang) and an end is currently being questioned. Might it be infinite? We know one thing, based on human observations-- stars have ends as that can be observed. Hence what we call the sun, which has allowed for life here, will eventually end it based on too hot or maybe an explosion. 

What I lay awake considering is-- are there universes beyond ours? If there are, are they parallel to us, or we just a raindrop in a much larger world picture-- even though humans have thought of themselves as the center of it.

 

Mystery?

 

image from Stencil

Sometimes, I start thinking about a blog knowing exactly what I want for the topic, even if I didn't already see the details. I didn't this week. While there is much I could write about regarding our culture and what direction will best govern its future, I already said the immediate and now, I want to see more of how it plays out since voters in some states have spoken. Let's see the results before more about it.

What is on my mind is more personal. Given my age, 82, I am definitely nearer to death than younger folks-- or so we would expect. I have no reason to think mine is imminent, but then whoever knows.

The topic for today isn't though unique to being this age. I've thought about spirituality and death all of my life. In my mid-50s, I got curious about reincarnation. Reading a lot about it didn't answer my questions; so I spent a summer doing meditative regressions, where you follow instructions from a tape to take yourself back down steps to maybe your own past lives.

Being a writer, always thinking of stories, I had some concern for the stories I had gathered with that method. There were 6 or so of them, but none with being a queen or celebrity. All had sad endings. At the end of that summer, I worked with a hypnotherapist to get the same stories with one more. She asked a salient question when I brought up my concern. Did you cry when you come up with earlier stories for books. I know that some writers do, but I don't. But with the past live meditations, I did. 

For my personal exploring, that was more or less all I did-- leaving the answers of the beyond to mystery. Although, when I lost my beloved cat at too early an age, I did ask for a dream about reincarnation. I did have a very specific dream (not about the cat) that led to my paranormal/fantasy series.

Recently, on YouTube, I watched a podcast where the host was asking questions of a doctor, who does such research on near death experiences, which are death except the people come back. I found it of interest and wanted to share the link here with readers for others to think about.

All Souls Day Episode.

It turned out the host was wrong, not on All Souls Day, but at the time of year for such questions to arise with Samhain. This is a very spiritual time of the year for many religions.  A good time to consider what might be beyond what we see.

Government shutdown means what???

I wish I had good news for today, but it's not what's on my mind. None of this directly impacts my life, but pain for others hurts us all. What is below, I learned from reading/watching online, with two exceptions of those who shared their experiences.
 

Writing this now, when I have no idea how the government shutdown will end or if it will, I still feel strongly about some cultural issues that I feel Americans should consider. There are programs that will not be funded. How many of us understand what they are? Or how they impact the lives of others.

The first one on my mind is what the government now calls SNAP, which used to be food stamps, and when I was a girl, it handed out food from warehouses where people stood in line. I saw the lines but never was in one, but I thought they gave out basic food needs like bread, vegetables, cheese, and I don't know what else.

Today, Snap means Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. Except now they are talking about children going hungry. Does not sound like supplemental nutrition, but rather what I thought Food Stamps used to mean, which could be total food costs.

Who should we blame for the government scaring families like this, which I consider cultural? I'd say both parties who care more about their political power than families.

Turns out one of my relatives works for checking food programs in at least one part of Washington to be sure it's legitimate, which sounds like all anyone can do and reassures me. 

But, I also was told by someone who gets SNAP that when they use it for food, and not all of it, the cashier gives them back cash. That means they could use that for forbidden items like cigarettes or alcohol. Nutritional Supplements? 

What does not reassure me, with its loss, is the SNAP programs are also helping to fund local food banks or even stores to help the less advantaged to get food. This is a big deal and makes me angry that fear is trying to be used with evidently 42 million people in the programs. If they are the elderly, disabled or those with children, that sounds right that they should receive it.

Is that all that get it places they might not be checking? And even, if so, why are so many suffering in our system? I know what some claim... tax more to the rich, but I don't know that it's so simple and political power might play more of a role than it should. Besides, what does it mean when people must depend on government, where it's so vague what the "government" actually does.

With the government shut down, evidently it will also impact airlines. That means controllers are not being funded by the ticket purchasers. This is about to majorly inconvenience those who need to fly. If it lasts until Thanksgiving, this will not only impact families but also the airlines.

The military will be funded by a billionaire's donations, which is not reassuring for a budget that already is massively in debt? What is going on and how many of us have any idea? I sure do not, and I fear that many do not want to know!

There are a lot of other programs that have been intended to figure out nature's needs, not to mention the park services. Where is the money going? I ask again.

We know the Congress made sure they get paid even when they refused to fund the country or figure out what needs funding. They don't seem even embarrassed in protecting themselves over others. It's very disappointing, but nothing more for me than children going hungry. Do the people we elect to Congress care about anything, but power for themselves-- that means both sides.

If the government cares about doing what is right for American citizens, which lately I tend to doubt, end the filibuster. It used to make sense when someone like Senator Morse could speak for hours to justify his position. They got lazy and now all it takes is one to say-- I filibuster to mean a simple majority is not enough. If Americans want one party or the other to be in power for that simple majority-- vote. But as it stands, it seems to me the filibuster just avoids responsibility. Get rid of the meaningless filibuster that enables them to avoid their duties.