Turkey, Texas!
It’s Thanksgiving time in Texas. In the Lone Star State, we celebrate Thanksgiving with a mixture of Plymouth Rock and spicy tamales. Well, actually, we celebrate everything with tamales, chips, and queso.
Texan families will gather to thank the Lord for His bountiful provisions and then consume an enormous traditional meal complete with turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn and cranberry sauce. Then we top it all off by watching football while eating a bowl of Blue Bell ice cream topped with Desirable pecans.
History reveals that even the pilgrims and native Americans at the first Thanksgiving did not have a traditional meal. According to the Smithsonian Institute, they may have had wild turkey, but most likely they had goose or duck. Some feel that the main meat was passenger pigeons because they overpopulated the area. Side dishes may have included bread made from maize, bird pottage, flint corn, squash, and some sort of meat pie.
Having lived in Wisconsin for many years, I recall those of German descent often added other foods to the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Menu additions may include a selection of Wisconsin cheeses, pistachio fluff, Greek quinoa salad, and maple soaked lady fingers topped with cinnamon cream.
Speaking of Thanksgiving, the town of Turkey, Texas, was recently in the news. To be honest, I didn’t even know that there was a town in Texas named Turkey. Anyhow, it seems that a young couple had planned a gender reveal party and had hired a local crop-duster to spray pink water on top of their gathering. All went well, until the small plane crashed into the nearby field. Nobody died, but the town of Turkey became known nationally.
Reading about Turkey, Texas, led me to explore which Texas towns have names that remind us of the first Thanksgiving of November 1621. Did you know that in Texas, we have towns named Pilgrim, Mayflower, Plymouth, Pumpkin, and Pioneer? It’s true. And some of our towns have the names of pilgrims who were on the Mayflower like Bradford, English, Brewster (County), and Winslow.
But even better, I found that there are many Texas towns that express the cheer and good will that was expressed in the first celebration of Thanksgiving. Using the names of Texas towns, here is a TEXAS BENEDICTION of GRATITUDE at Thanksgiving 2019:
What a JOY and JOLLY BLESSING it is to WELCOME family and friends to feast on TURKEY, CRABAPPLE, PUMPKIN, and PLUM. We are not WORTHY to be filled with this IDEAL HOPE and HARMONY, but we find COMFORT as we celebrate the INDEPENDENCE and LIBERTY that have been provided through the PROVIDENCE of God. We are HUMBLE, CONTENT, and HAPPY to live in the GLORY of the CROSS provided by the great BISHOP of our souls Christ Jesus.