Happy Thanksgiving! Today we are reminded of  the Pilgrims and their three-day feast which was observed in the midst of hardship as those who survived their first year in the new world took time to be thankful for what they had.   

I imagine at least once you have watched “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.”  You can probably recite the story where Peppermint Patty calls and invites herself and Marcie and Franklin over to “Chuck’s” house for a holiday dinner.  With the help of Linus and Snoopy quick preparations are made.  The guests arrive and they all make their way to the ping-pong table in the backyard for the feast. Linus leads the group in prayer, and Snoopy serves up the food, throwing the plates to each guest Frisbee-style. Everyone receives two slices of buttered toast, pretzel sticks, a handful of popcorn, and some jelly beans.  The guests think this odd at first, but they decide in the end they are thankful for what they have.

Today we use ovens and microwaves to quickly and efficiently prepare turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, corn, vegetables, pumpkin and pecan pie.  We buy all these at the grocery at the last-minute and wonder how we will survive the few hours the grocery is closed on Thanksgiving Day.  There is a morning’s worth of parades followed by an afternoon and evening of football.  

Then comes “Black Friday” as we lose all thankfulness and all civility in an effort to wrestle those door-buster specials away from anyone who dares to get in our way. 

Saturday brings a bunch of college football rivalry games including Ohio State and some school up north.

In the midst of all this frantic activity we pause to take moment to state one thing we are thankful for?  This time, let’s take more than a moment, let’s reflect on what those Pilgrims went though, what Charlie Brown reminded us of.  Yes, there are many problems in this world, yes some days are difficult and some days are next to impossible, still there is much to be thankful for.  So, stop and ponder, be thankful for all of the good things in your life this Thanksgiving Day.

And now for your Thanksgiving weather forecast (this has been circulating for a number of years and it is amazingly accurate!)

Turkeys will be thawing overnight and into the morning, transitioning to warming in the oven to an afternoon high near 190 degrees. As the day progresses, the kitchen will become hot and humid, and if you bother the cook, be ready for a severe squall or cold shoulder.

Towards late afternoon, the cold front of a knife will quickly slice through the turkey, causing an accumulation of one to two inches on most plates with higher accumulations on some. Mashed potatoes will drift across one side gravy may lead to localized flooding and watch out for cranberry sauce to create some slippery spots. 

As we look toward the evening, a weight watch and indigestion warning have been issued for the entire area, with increased stuffiness around the beltway. As the evening comes on, the turkey will diminish and taper off to leftovers, dropping to a low of 34 degrees in the refrigerator. 

Looking ahead to Friday and Saturday, high pressure to eat sandwiches will be established. Also expect occasional flurries of leftovers both days with a 50 percent chance of scattered soup each day. We expect a warming trend where soup develops. By early next week, eating pressure will be low as the only wish left will be the bone.