Happy Thanksgiving! For those of us living just a short jog from the Canadian border, we can almost smell the roast turkey and pumpkin pie wafting gingerly through the crisp northern Maine air.

Turkey dinner and the fixins
Brian Chase/ThinkStock
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What a delicious piece of Canadian ingenuity: celebrating Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October! This is one of those times I think the U.S. should take its cue from Canada.

Imagine being thankful for a bountiful harvest somewhere around the time that there’s an actual harvest! Think about it. We’ve recently raided the last veggie-booty from our gardens. The potatoes are (almost) all harvested from the fields. And we don’t have a real holiday in early October anyway. What’s that? Oh, yes, it's also 'Columbus Day.'

Now, I’m sure the Knights of Columbus meant well when they pushed for a day to lionize the old Italian voyager here in the U.S. But I’m more likely to go Hawaiian and celebrate 'Discoverers’ Day' as they do in the islands. Or 'Native American Day' as they prefer in South Dakota. There’s also a push to rename Columbus Day 'Explorers’ Day' to honor all peoples exploring new horizons and not just one man of dubious character.  Sounds fine to me.

In the meantime, pass the turkey, cranberry relish and butternut squash. I’m joining my Canadian friends to enjoy this Bonus Thanksgiving Day - the only day I'll be celebrating this October 12th.

 

Originally posted October 12, 2012

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