Talking Turkey

I completely forgot to mention that - in addition to some up-close sightings of large bucks in the backyard and a pheasant in a field - Deb saw some more wild turkey running around. Almost two years ago, on Thanksgiving Day, we saw a large number in the back woods, and jokingly said we wouldn't see them again for a while, implying they'd end up roasted and stuffed. This was the first sighting in our neighborhood since then.

Turkey is, of course, deeply associated with the Thanksgiving holiday - about two hundred years deep. For the first two hundred years since that First Thanksgiving in Plimouth, things were quite different.

While some people might think I'm needlessly picking on the holiday by digging deeper into it, I don't feel that's the case. Turkey is unquestionably the traditional main course, even if that First Thanksgiving probably served venison, ducks, and geese.

Furthering knowledge of the actual history - as opposed to the fictionalized recreations - shouldn't detract from the holiday, if anything it should provide even more chances to learn and reach toward a deeper understanding of the importance of the holiday.

I keep mentioning the First Thanksgiving - in 1621 - with some mischievous intent, as it was neither the First nor a Thanksgiving. The much lauded First Thanksgiving celebrated by people later called pilgrims was actually a three-day harvest festival. Check out some of the differences between the modern menu and that of the First Thanksgiving in Partakers of Our Plenty, over on the Plimouth Plantation site. They have a handful of other articles on the subject, as well as some recipes for more historically accurate traditional fare (which does include a stuffing for wild turkey, so all hope is not lost!)

Year-round availability of once-seasonal crops has reduced the importance of the harvest season - it's hard to stay in tune with such things when so many are isolated from all but the basest level of seasonal recognition. When we're not working the land, it's easy to forget that land is involved; that there are still people who dig, plant, and harvest the food. Much easier to associate the cashier who rings it up, the people stocking the shelves and working behind the butcher's counter, or, for the more far-sighted, the people driving the trucks that carry it to the store. Further away than that, everything becomes nebulous.

Of course, there are some people who take advantage of a CSA program at a local farm - something I need to do - and they likely have a much clearer understanding of the natural cycles native to their region just from seeing certain things delivered at certain times.

So whether you're serving up turkey, rodent venison, or something entirely different tomorrow, take a moment to think about where your food comes from, and give thanks to those who provide it for you - a food chain of different sorts, from earners, to sellers, to growers, to spirits or creators or wherever the line may ultimately end up for you.