Wednesday, November 26
If you value your life, never use the phrase "Turkey Day" in my presence. There's more to Thanksgiving than stuffing your face. Not much, these days, but there's at least a little bit of the reason for the season still back there somewhere if you squint. We will overlook the whole Puritan/Separatist thing for now, considering the first real Thanksgiving was held by Spanish Catholics in Texas, in 1598:
"We built a great bonfire and roasted meat and fish, and then sat down to a repast the like of which we had never enjoyed before." Before this bountiful meal, Don Juan de Oñate personally nailed a cross to a living tree and prayed, "Open the door to these heathens, establish the church altars where the body and blood of the Son of God may be offered, open to us the way to security and peace for their preservation and ours, and give to our king and to me in his royal name, peaceful possession of these kingdoms and provinces for His blessed glory. Amen. (Source).Or maybe Anglican Cavaliers in Virginia. Or maybe Zheng He, the Chinese admiral, or the Welsh, or Vikings, or St. Brendan. Or Erik von Däniken's ancient astronauts, if we're really being inclusive and politically correct.
![[SMMMHDH]](http://www.mgilleland.com/music/smmmhdh.png){kind=small}
