Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for checking in! I don't have much time to write since I have to run to catch a 10:40am bus to Easton, where I'll celebrate the holiday with my sister and dad. But I couldn't leave without first posting a big THANK YOU to everyone who has contacted me since I've been back and to all who've kept up with my adventures on this website. It's great to be back, and over the course of the weekend, I'll do my best to hit everyone up.

Also, because today is Thanksgiving, I want to offer the following two quotes:

"The true history of Thanksgiving reveals embarrassing facts. The Pilgrims did not introduce the tradition; Eastern Indians had observed autumnal harvest celebrations for centuries. Although George Washington did set aside days for national thanksgiving, our modern celebrations date back only to 1863. During the Civil War, when the Union needed all the patriotism that such an observance might muster, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday. The Pilgrims had nothing to do with it; not until the 1890s did they even get included in the tradition. For that matter, they were not commonly known as "the Pilgrims" until the 1870s."

"The archetypes associated with Thanksgiving -- God on our side, civilization wrested from wilderness, order from disorder, through hard work and good Pilgrim character traits -- continue to radiate from our history textbooks."

These two quotes come from the book, "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong" by James W. Loewen, pages 90 and 88, respectively. I offer them simply as a reminder that we've gotta get our history straight. Without an honest understanding of our roots, we can't truly understand who we are today. And that principle applies at the personal level as much as it does at the national level.

Alright, I would write more, but I've really gotta get running. I hope you have a wonderful day with a generous helping of good food and whatever else you enjoy about this holiday (see the poll to the upper-left for reference). HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!