Marilyn's Photos - Oct 12 2025 - Canadian Thanksgiving

 

Each year at Thanksgiving, we celebrate our smart thinking in putting Canadian Thanksgiving in October well before Christmas and even before Halloween.  Enough before Halloween that the Halloween decorations only start to come out before Thanksgiving, and then blossom thereafter.  And we don’t have to worry about Thanksgiving and Christmas decor crashing into each other.  Pumpkins will reign until the beginning of November, and then it is a transition into Christmas stuff.  No orange Poinsettias for us. Clearly, from our perspective, American Thanksgiving is too late.  The google answer for why American Thanksgiving is so late is that it was meant to coincide with the end of the harvest period.  Were they thinking of the Southern U.S?  It certainly is well past the harvest season in the northern part of the U.S. and into Canada.  Ours substantially concludes in October.  Our outdoor market in Grimsby concluded this past week. And then to prove my point, what is harvested in November?  Leeks, brussels sprouts, and parsnips - vegetables that need a cold snap and frost  to convert the starches to sugar.   November crops are further south in the U.S. with persimmons and pomegranates harvested in November.  We have persimmons in October here - smaller than the southern U.S. varieties.  But potatoes, squash, beets, carrots, pumpkins - have all been available for a while. Only pumpkins and squash need to wait till October to harden off.   All the rest of the vegetables like beets, carrots, potatoes are all season long.   The decision for the late November date wasn’t because of tradition. The first American Thanksgiving was somewhere between Sept 21 and Nov 11, 1621. The mostly likely date was around Michaelmas - end of September. Canada’s earliest thanksgiving was in 1578 when Martin Frobisher held a ceremony in Nunavut to give thanks for the safety of its fleet.  The Times of India tells us that Canadian Thanksgiving is “rather low-key.”   In contrast to Canada, Thanksgiving is one of the biggest holidays in the U.S.  There are extra days to the holiday with parades, football games along with the Black Friday shopping extravaganza, followed by Cyber Monday shopping.  Somehow shopping got in there, didn’t it? To conclude our Canadian view of U.S. Thanksgiving, we repeat this picture comparison in two variations.

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Oct 13 2024 - Pumpkin Pie Wars

 

Who would guess that even Thanksgiving can give way to wars?  Yes, there are Pumpkin Pie Wars. What makes for Pumpkin Pie Wars?  There was a so-called pie war in 2014 between two bakeries in Cincinnati over billboards and their placement right next to each other.   Then there's a TV move in 2016 named Pumpkin Pie Wars - that's a Hallmark moment, so don't expect any fighting.  Maybe a pie fight.   Historically, the Civil Qar had a stand-off between South and North over pumpkin pie. There was no pumpkin pie in the South and they considered this a cultural domination.  Making Thanksgiving a permanent holiday was seen by prominent Southerners as a culture war - that was in the 19th century.  When it comes to dominance, there's no argument over the largest pumpkin pie in the world - 3,699 pounds in New Bremen, Ohio.  It was 20 feet in diameter.  What did their recipe have?  Canned pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin spice. Looks like a traditional pumpkin pie.   In relation to the largest pie records, this pumpkin pie is far behind.  The world's largest meat pie weighed 23,237 pounds, made in Stratford-up-Avon College in the UK.  And the world's largest cherry pie, in 1990, came in at 37,713 pounds and a diameter of 20 feet.  That was in B.C.  Shouldn't the largest pie be an apple one?  Yes - 40,000 pounds in 1997 in Wenatchee Valley in Washington.  Given these are foods to be eaten, you can imagine what they taste like.  Even participants involved in "building" the pies said they tasted poor.    This is a silly Millie puppy image. Just popped in a new background so we can have a Happy Thanksgiving card.

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Nov 23 2023 - Bentley Up in Smoke at U.S. Border

 

It is on the front page of the Globe and Mail today - a car blew up on the American side of the Canadian-US Border in Niagara Falls at the Rainbow Bridge yesterday.  It blew up so substantially that there was no license plate to find.  There was nothing left but the engine.  It incinerated.   The conclusion on the explosion is that it is not an act of Terrorism.   People thinking they were going to a Thanksgiving Dinner today are definitely delayed.  There are 15 car inspection lanes into Canada and 16 into the U.S.  You can imagine they were full. Add to that - All of the bridges in Niagara were closed because of the explosion.  All those cars had to turn around to go back to Canada.  There are people roaming Clifton Hill wondering what to do.   The other three bridges are open again, but you can imagine the wait times. We have signs on the highway giving the wait times during the peak season.  I wonder what they say today. This brings up the Canadian vs American Thanksgiving differences.  A key difference seems to be that Canadians don't go on a shopping spree the day before Thanksgiving.  There's no massive line-up of cars to get the Thursday before Black Friday deals. That's partly because our Thanksgiving is on a Monday so really is a holiday.  Our holiday is more low-key.  We don't have huge parades in front of Macy's, football spectaculars and pressure from the New York Times to cook the perfect meal.  The next difference is that we don't head out for a shopping craze the day after Thanksgiving.  So perhaps with no berserk shopping lines the day before and the day after, we generally have a more "thankful" time.  At least we have a less violent sense to our Thanksgiving weekend.  We don't leave the dishes in the sink to go camp out all night in front of ToyRUs stores - supposedly that behaviour is history now.  Stores still open at 5am.  Even here in Canada some will open at 6am - again just a little more relaxed here. This is our favourite Canadian vs American Thanksgiving joke. And a Harvest interpretation.

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Oct 8 2023 - Traditional Thanksgiving

 

What makes your Canadian Thanksgiving traditional and classic? While Butter Tarts are considered the iconic classic Canadian dessert, we likely still want pumpkin pie for the holiday.  I think I might be on track here:  it is the dessert that we most think about for Canadian Thanksgiving.   Why is that?  Well, my opinions that many people don't really like turkey.  There are lots of articles with the headline "People hate turkey: Admit it" or This article seems the best one of all: "There are 2 Types of People. Those Who Hate Turkey and Those Who Are Wrong"  - this headline comes from a website named ricemedia.co, and the author has more to say: "But that’s not the main issue. The real issue is size. Buying Turkey is like buying an American SUV in Singapore.  "Turkey’s problem is twofold. 1) The bird is so large that heat cannot reach all parts of it, resulting in an uneven done-ness 2) The meat has so little fat that any amount of overcooking is unforgivable. You have to walk a precariously thin line between indigestion and diarrhoea—in short, to pray for a thermodynamic miracle." "This is the reason why most commercial brands (Butterball, Norbest) inject their Turkey with a sodium phosphate solution to keep the flesh moist. It is also the reason why many home cooks, finding the saline injections inadequate, shingle their Turkey’s breast with a layer of bacon to protect it from direct heat." Such whit and sarcasm in this article, resulting in a refreshing point of view from this writer. It brings laughter to the table of turkey. It was written by Pan Jie in 2019 - for Christmas.  The article is HERE.  So likely there is nothing else to really say about Canadian Thanksgiving.  We seem to have a handle on what to put on or in every dish:  the Turkey is Maple Roasted, the Cranberry Sauce is Maple Cranberry Sauce, the Squash is Maple flavoured.  So what goes in the Pumpkin Pie?  Yes. Using DuckDuckGo as my browser, I get this message every time.  My question is why doesn't Facebook present better content if is tracking me on Safari.  It seems to me it is failing at its task - the one it said it would never do when it started. If you want to view commercial-free videos on YouTube, use DuckDuckGo as the commercials are blocked.  Now that's a Thanksgiving tip to remember all year. Here's the whopping Thousand Flower Chrysanthemum of Longwood Gardens - like the Thanksgiving Turkey - over the top in size.  Unlike the turkey, it takes the award for beauty as well.

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Oct 4 2022 - Pumpkin Pie on the Horizon

 

Prayers of thanks and special thanksgiving ceremonies are common among most religions after harvests and at other times.   But North America's two Thanksgivings are Colonizing Settler Festivals - distinctive compared to everyone else as they relate to survival rather than just celebrating the harvest. We call our thanksgiving "Canadian Thanksgiving".  It is a Canadian Joke.  The date?  It was late - in 1957 - that Canada fixed Thanksgiving to the second Monday in October.  There aren't that many Thanksgiving Days around the globe.  Japan's holiday is Labour Thanksgiving Day - an all in one celebration of labour and production that started during the American occupation. The  really big #1 holiday each year is New Year's and there are variations and versions all over the globe.  Thanksgiving is far down the kist of important holidays - except for us Canadians and Americans. The distinction of  the Thanksgiving meal is pumpkin pie.  I wouldn't consider pumpkin pie part of Christmas or even desirable t Christmas.  But it is for Thanksgiving.  Native to North America, it was exported to France and then England in the 1500s.  How perfect that the Pilgrims brought the pumpkin pie back to New England when they arrived. Canadians have a notion that everything has  "become" political in the U.S. in the last few years.  Here's how far back the social politics goes:  When Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, observers in the Confederacy saw it as a move to impose Yankee traditions on the South. We' have our own Canadian jabs and snubs about the earlier date of "Canadian Thanksgiving"  -  You don't have to wake up at ungodly hours to participate in Black Friday with your parents.  When Americans get around to posting about Thanksgiving, Canadians have "been there, done that."

There are lots of pumpkin displays - at the farmer's fruit and vegetable stands and in front of supermarkets.  They are autumn's celebration here. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

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oct 11 20201 - And After Thanksgiving, Is there Rest? No

 

After our Canadian dinner of Canadian leftovers last night, the "Day of Distinguishing Canadian vs US Thanksgiving" comes to a close.   It brought to mind things that might or might not be celebrated based on country and religion.  We joke about Canadian vs American Thanksgiving.  However, we fail to take into account being Indigenous in either country and how overwhelming the colonial nature of the holiday tradition has been.  What about our next holiday?  It's Halloween.  What do we find?  It is labelled a secular holiday - like Valentine's and Thanksgiving. It comes from some ancient tradition - Celtic - so that might be ok.  But wait, the Roman Catholics took it over as an All Saints Day.  That's what makes it political to all sorts of religious groups. I am quite amazed by how many holidays the Jehovah Witnesses reject - they claim that Jesus didn't ask for anyone to celebrate his birthday.  So Christmas is off. And after that? It is Remembrance Day on November 11 at 11:00am.  Give up the singing of Onward Christian Soldiers and the British National Anthem in Ireland.  These items are the subject of protest.  Ireland is particularly troubled by the day of commemorations.  And then there are religious groups such as Quakers. Then we're on to American Thanksgiving with the predominant views alternating between the Pilgrims 'sharing' their harvest with the 'natives' and the harmoniously sharing the 'first Thanksgiving meal'. We round out the year with Christmas and celebrating the New Year.  We know Christmas is political.  Are New Year's celebrations a political issue?  The Jehovah Witnesses pop up again - they "refuse participation in ecumenical and interfaith activities."  Keep going and you will find 4 reasons why Muslims should not celebrate the New Year.  Mostly, though, it is complete cultures who don't celebrate January 1st as the New Year - think of Chinese New Year. We can continue through the entire year, and this trend will apply to every celebration holiday.  It seems to me this is an instance where being a Global Village has its dilemmas. Our picture today was taken a year ago.  It is the Cherry Ave intersection from yesterday's picture of the bicycle driver in the flower field.  It is on the left side past the intersection.

Oct 10 2021 - Thanksgiving Only in Canada

 

Is there a reason we must call today Canadian Thanksgiving? Yes, it is a simple reason - American Thanksgiving is bigger, bolder, and more cherished.  It seems to be next to sacred with its mythical beginning with the Pilgrims.  Search for Thanksgiving and all manner of U.S. perspectives will be retrieved.   What about the Canadian perspective? I found this quote, without attribution, to describe it: It's very dear to me, the issue of Canadian Thanksgiving.  Or, as I like to call it:  "Thanksgiving"... I had lunch this afternoon, not Canadian lunch.  I parked my car.  I didn't Canadian park it.   The proximity to Christmas is portrayed in this visual joke:   Americans too complain about its placement in the calendar: “Even though we’re a week and a half away from Thanksgiving, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.” —Richard Roeper “My fondest memories are generally the day after Thanksgiving. I get the total decorating Christmas itch.” –  Katharine McPhee Given Thanksgiving's place in the calendar, we might find this joke especially funny:     I drive "down" Cherry Ave every week on my way from Elaine's Pear Blossom Orchard to pick up my vegetables.  It is a great hill with a spectacular view of Toronto across the lake.  That is where today's picture was taken.  It was at the bottom of Cherry Ave and Highway 8 way back in October 2009. This corner is now a vineyard, but then it was a field of wildflowers.  Lucky me that day that a person in a red jacket was riding their bicycle.

Nov 26 2020 - Naming the Mayflower

 

Today we explore American Thanksgiving by asking the question:  Why was the ship named the Mayflower?   It is very simple:  I hadn't realized that this is another name for Hawthorn blossoms (Crataegus monogyna).  I had one of these in the Toronto garden with beautiful pink blossoms, followed by edible fruit that attracted migrating birds in the Fall.  While mine was not long-lived, the oldest one is in France and goes back to the 3rd century.   The oldest in Britain is 700 years old. The hawthorn is associated with Faerie in Ireland, and is 'not disturbed' by those who believe in the danger fairies traditionally represent. American Thanksgiving is a holiday of far more significance in the U.S. than it is in Canada and Commonwealth countries.  We don't have a 'trip to the promised land' as the motivation for our celebration.   The Pilgrims and Puritans referred to themselves as God's New Israel who would build a spiritual Jerusalem in America.  The journey across the Atlantic was horrible - imagine what it felt like with swells of over 100 feet.  The arrival was November 19 1620.  And here we are 400 years later.   I have only a few ship images.  Here we are looking across the lake in November 2015 to Toronto, with the skyline very prominent. I take the Welland Canal for granted when I drive over the bridge to go to the garden centre greenhouses. It is the reason we see big ships in Lake Ontario.

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Nov 16 2020 - American Thanksgiving

 

It is coming soon - American Thanksgiving.  So late in the year, it crowds into Christmas.  They have developed orange Poinsettias to accommodate this cross-over.   The other thing it has in timing that is difficult is the American election.  This sets up difficult and troublesome situations.  For example, Trump has been ruining American Thanksgiving since 2015 when a poll showed he was the politician most likely to ruin the Dinner.  The headlines about Trump and Thanksgiving in 2015, 2017 and 2019 were things like: "How to talk to Trump-Loving relatives at Thanksgiving."  During this election campaign, Trump predicted that if Biden becomes their next president, the Americans will have to bid farewell to Christmas and Thanksgiving.  That is a definite "ruin Thanksgiving" headline. On the other side of the ocean, the UK does have a sort of Thanksgiving - it seems to be November 26th this year.  Here's a quote from a website named wayenglishcourse.co.uk:  "The American thanksgiving is not celebrated in the UK because no one had to be thankful for their new land and good ocean trip." Our picture today is compensating for the diminishing colours of our landscape that November brings. It is a lovely Florida sunrise in 2016.   I wonder when we can expect the best sunrise/sunset colour here in Niagara.  Is there a time of year when it is best?  In terms of locations, Port Dalhousie and Niagara Falls have dramatic sunrises/sunsets.  One dilemma for Niagara Falls is that it has the most dramatic ones during the coldest winter weather.

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