Happy Thanksgiving!
All three of the kids are with us -- and we've added a few others -- and we're doing the turkey thing this afternoon.


Top 10 Myths About Thanksgiving
Myth #1 -- The Pilgrims held the first Thanksgiving (Texans beat them to it)
Myth #2 -- Thanksgiving was about family
Myth #3 -- Thanksgiving was about religion
Myth #4 -- The Pilgrims ate turkey
Myth #5 -- The Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock
Myth #6 -- Pilgrims lived in log cabins (the Swedes hadn't arrived yet)
Myth #7 -- Pilgrims dressed in black
Myth #8 -- Pilgrims, Puritans the same thing
Myth #9 -- Puritans hated sex
Myth #10 -- Puritans hated fun
-- Rick Shenkman on the History News Network

A few over-generalizations (and misunderstanding of Puritans and Separatists -- some Puritans were Separatists and some were not) -- but the article is moving in the right direction.

Fortunately, Thanksgiving has evolved and grown. Even if the Pilgrims were not the first to hold a thanksgiving celebration in America and even if they didn't really eat turkey -- so what. I'll enjoy turkey and will be just as thankful.


Advent song
This Sunday is the first Sunday in Advent. And that means that we get to do a beautiful song that Cheryl wrote last year just for this season -- Come, Messiah, Come! If Advent were longer we'd get to sing it more often.


Cause for thanksgiving
Fortunately, when the Carnegie Arts Center burned yesterday morning the artwork which was normally in the building was spared. It had all been removed from the building earlier this year because of the renovations.