Mom Helps You All Understand Thanksgiving
Hey Kids –
Today I thought I’d dispense with a few Thanksgiving Fun Facts.
Cornucopia is a Latin form evolved from two words cornu copiae, “horn of plenty.” The horn of plenty was fabled to be the horn of the goat nymph Amalthaea, whose milk was fed to the baby Zeus in Greek mythology. The cornucopia is a goat’s horn filled with corn and other grains, flowers, and fruit. It has long been a symbol of fruitfulness and abundance and at Thanksgiving, baskets shaped like cornucopia are filled and put on display.
The word feast comes from the Latin festa (plural of festum), “festive ceremonies” and was originally a religious celebration commemorating a person, like the Bible’s Passover. There are movable feasts like Easter, whose date changes each year, and immovable feasts, like Christmas and saints’ days. The word feast came into English in the 13th century.
Indian corn is the common name of Zea Mays, also called maize, a North American plant or the grain produced by it. Indian corn was cultivated by Native Americans at the time of the discovery of America. Columbus and other explorers introduced corn to Europe, from where it spread to all areas of the world suitable to its cultivation.
The oldest Thanksgiving Day parade (Latin parare, “to make ready, procure, prepare, furnish“), dating to 1920, is Gimbel’s department store’s in Philadelphia. Macy’s department store held its first parade in 1924.
The pilgrims were originally called Puritans because they wanted to “purify” the Church of England, which they felt was too caught up with ritual. Many people studied the Bible and listened to sermons in private homes – without the ritual activities – and if they were caught, would have been considered treasonous. The 102 people who made the voyage on the Mayflower included some people who decided to travel to the New World for these religious reasons. The basic meaning of pilgrim, was “traveler, wanderer” and our English word can be traced back through French to Latin pelegrinus, an alternation of peregrinum, “foreigner.”
Turkey was originally the name for African guinea fowl and eventually for the Western hemisphere fowl with which the earlier fowl was confused. The existence of the wild turkey in North America was recorded in 1613 by Samuel Purchas in his book “Pilgrimage.” Because of their size (20-30 pounds), the turkey was relatively easy to catch and became a source of food for early American settlers.
And last but not least may I suggest to you all that you take a little time this weekend and go to the movies – instead of clicking away at your keyboard – and see the movie “RENT“. It’s message is very pertinent – even more so in this era of increased infection rates among those of you so young. Contrary to popular belief the AIDS crisis is NOT over yet – and HIV infection is still a DEATH SENTENCE. So this Thanksgiving, give thanks for your health along with the hope that one day we will have a cure for this disease that continues to ravage our community.
This message may seem a bit of a downer – but look at it this way: Holidays are just another day of the year, though sometimes things happen that make them memorable – either good or bad. For me there aren’t many left that don’t have some significance in my life. Valentine’s Day 1984, for example – this is the day I was diagnosed HIV Positive. At that time I was told I most likely had 6 to 8 months left to live. By Labor Day 1990 I had buried my own mother that very year but my personal friends death toll had surpassed 600.
Mother’s Day 1996 I was rushed to see a doctor (something I hadn’t visited for nearly 11 years) because it was becoming apparent that perhaps I shouldn’t be making any ‘long-term’ plans, but thanks to protease inhibitors I was handed a reprieve. This year I celebrated 21 years as an HIV/AIDS Survivor – which in my book is something to be thankful.
As you consider what you have to be thankful for this year – remember that there is usually someone else much worse off than yourself. I’m not necessarily talking about a terminal illness – but merely knowing where the next meal is coming from or if there is a roof over your head.
For starters, you’re already better off than 70% of the earth’s population – you have a computer.
Be Thankful! M’wah – M.
