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When Words Just Will Not Do
First World Problems

And So It Goes Janet Givens’ Blog More on the Blog's name

And so it goes -- sometimes So it goes -- the lament that permeates Kurt Vonnegut’s classic Slaughterhouse-Five, addresses the notion that certain events are beyond our control. It honors fatalism, resignation, and the inevitability of death (among other things), and the consequent acceptance of our fate.


Just as Vonnegut tried to educate his readers to a greater understanding of the human condition, And So It Goes, the blog, tries to educate readers to a greater understand of the culture that, inevitably and unconsciously, molds us.


We do that by looking at cultures that are different than our own. And we pay special attention to the parts of those cultures that trouble us, that make us gasp, that make us turn away.


Here on my blog, we take the time to take a closer look, to chew on what we’ve been swallowing whole. Adopting the existential notion that we create our own reality, we understand that that reality is also molded by our environment and perpetuated by our culture.


And so it goes.

Thanksgiving Post

posted on November 25, 2015 by Janet Givens
8 view comments

 

SUBSCRIBERS: Please be sure to see my notice at the end of this post.  Thanks.

 

Here in the U.S., Thanksgiving is upon us.

 

Thanksgiving has long been one of my favorite holidays, though as my sons and their families grow older and I must share them more often with other families — who all live a lot closer to them — Thanksgiving has lost a bit of its original appeal as a time to sit around the dining table without the normal squabbles of young, competitive boys growing up.  Seems like only yesterday . . .

 

Still, our heritage of gathering together in community, sharing our bounty with others, and giving thanks for what we have is one I like to commemorate.  Especially when it feels as though it’s slipping away.

 

I’ve been collecting posters shared on Facebook in preparation for this post.  There have been many, but here’s one of my favorites:

 

 

IMG_1637

 

Timely, to be sure.

 

Are we ready to laugh at ourselves yet?

Somedays I am. I’ve found that laughter is often the only way I have of coping with something too big for me to control. If I step back far enough, I can see the absurdity, and I can laugh. It helps keep my blood pressure down.

 

Here are two links for further Thanksgiving reading.

 

The first is the link to last year’s Thanksgiving post with the Thanksgiving scene from the memoir, At Home on the Kazakh Steppe (available at your local independent bookstore and Amazon).

 

This next one is an interview in the Indian Country Today Media Network, an online publication out of Oklahoma. This article, by Gale Courey Toensing, is entitled “The Wampanoag Side of the Tale.” I encourage you to choose this one.

 

first-thanksgiving

 

Enjoy your bounty, whatever it is.

I’ll be grateful my problems are merely First World problems.

 

Attention, subscribers.

Beginning next week, I’ll be distributing my blog via Mail Chimp, which uses only email addresses.  Those of you who have subscribed via email need do nothing.  But those (18) of you who subscribe via an RSS Feed (i.e., your wordpress.com account), you will need to resubscribe.  But, when you do, you’ll get my new Bonus Scenes eBOOK as a thank you.

 

Those of you who subscribe via email, I trust you have already received your Bonus Book. If not, please let me know.

 

OK, enough small print. Let’s go make those pies.

 

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tagged
  • Gale Courey Toensing
  • Indian Country Today Media Network
  • Thanksgiving
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  • The Wampanoag Side of the Tale
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  • Cultural differences
  • Friendship
  • Holidays
  • Peace

8 thoughts on “Thanksgiving Post”

  1. Merril SmithMerril Smith

    Happy Thanksgiving, Janet! I have always loved Thanksgiving, too. I will have both girls and their spouses here for dinner this year, so I’m excited. I will check out your links later.

    Reply
    November 25, 2015
    • Janet GivensJanet Givens

      Happy Thanksgiving to you as well, Merril. We’re expecting Woody’s nephew from Canada, his French wife (Paris-French, not Montreal-French) and their little one, six months old. This will be Sabrina’s first US Thanksgiving, so I’ve even polished the silver! Enjoy.

      Reply
      November 25, 2015
  2. Susan JoyceSusan Joyce

    Happy Thanksgiving! This year we are sharing it with a friend I knew in Israel in 1969. What a delight to remember when together.

    Reply
    November 25, 2015
    • Janet GivensJanet Givens

      How nice you can share our holiday with another culture. That adds such an element of fun. Enjoy the prep together.

      Reply
      November 25, 2015
  3. Laurie BuchananLaurie Buchanan

    Janet — Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

    Reply
    November 25, 2015
    • Janet GivensJanet Givens

      Thank you Laurie. Same to you and yours. Did you know Boise is listed as the healthiest city on Idaho?

      Reply
      November 25, 2015
  4. Sharon LippincottSharon Lippincott

    Love that cartoon. As if they had a choice. Choice — if you have it, use it or lose it.

    We look forward to feasting with our daughter’s extended family, actual and acquired. Having more or less survived our current move, we have even more to be thankful for this year

    Reply
    November 25, 2015
    • Janet GivensJanet Givens

      Yes indeed. I imagine it feels really good to be on the far side of that move. With so much new to explore ahead of you. Happy T-day

      Reply
      November 25, 2015

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