Today is Thanksgiving in Canada. I am sitting in front of my computer in Germany, feeling just bereft of tradition and family ties. I blame frozen pizza.

Naturally, like many Canadians, I grew up celebrating with a huge feast. Often, we ate on the Sunday instead of the Monday if we were traveling to my grandparents house or to an aunt.

Yesterday, I wanted some of the tradition with my own children, even if we are so far away.

We spent yesterday on a happy family outing to Hessenpark, an open-air museum where houses and buildings from different eras have been re-constructed to show how people used to live in times past. This weekend featured a Harvest Festival and we watched, among other things, how apples are pressed to make apple juice, cider and the local favorite, apple wine.

Nothing makes my children happier than steam engines, farm animals and apple juice. Really, it’s a great combination.

It also made me think, though, of corn and beans and pumpkins. Canadian Thanksgiving is not about a feast between pilgrims and Native North Americans. It has a few other origins, but the most important one comes from a First Nations celebration in thanksgiving for the bounty of the three sisters: corn, beans and pumpkins. These three staples, cultivated so carefully, were quickly exported from the new world and their many varieties have saved so much of the human race from starvation. That is a huge legacy to consider when you think of Canadian Thanksgiving so far from home.

And then, after a long day out, we returned home to a dinner of frozen pizza. I just didn’t have time to prepare anything and everyone was crying out to be fed immediately.

A day at home to cook was just not an option and I have to teach tonight after my husband gets home from work, so there will be no Thanksgiving meal for us this year.

And, really, I don’t think it was missing out on the feast that bothered me. It was also knowing that yesterday, or this evening, my mother, my siblings, my brother-in-law, my niece and my nephew will all sit down together, grateful for each other’s company.

There are many pleasures of international life, it’s true. It has also been said that in this global economy, no one has a home. Well, I do have a home and my heart is there right now. I wish my little family could be there physically, with our bigger family, to enjoy the company of those we love the most, to break bread (or corn meal bread) and say; “I am thankful that you are part of my life.”

This post is brought to you by the letter B, beans and Blogtoberfest. To be entered to win the secret prize for today, leave a comment below by 11:59PM on Wednesday, October 10, 2007. In posts made today you will find other chances to win at Inside Fatherhood, Our One Heart, Play Library, Solo Mother and at Thrifty Mommy.

Post from: Babylune