Happy Thanksgiving 2025

This Thanksgiving, I'm sending you a prayer, an ode, an invocation, or a message of gratitude (whatever you would like to call it). I hope speaks to your heart and to the heart and meaning of this holiday.

Thanksgiving Commemoration 2025 by Vicki Dabrowka

Thanksgiving: The Ripple Effect & Circle Effect of the Season

Years ago, I had an incredibly small class--all boys--at a school I dearly loved. The school had water around 2 sides of the property, right on the Magothy River. I have a strong memory of a specific lesson that year where we went to the water, throwing stones in, watching our circles while discussing the importance of how our actions ripple out, often not knowing where our impact will go or end.

When I looked back (in an archival fashion) to see when I wrote about the pebble, the water, and the ripple effect, I was struck with the irony of it being Thanksgiving 2015--a decade ago. Maybe it was embedded on my brain... or perhaps it's just the cyclical nature of life:

The circles that grow from a pebble being thrown in the water...

The circle of family that gathers around the Thanksgiving dining room table...

The circle of hands that unite when coming together in union and thanks.

The circle of community that encompasses us--especially during holiday and hard times.

The circle of love that comes from a heartfelt hug or embrace.

The circle that leads toward sustainability.

Nature loves a circle. 

It all is like the ripple effect, and Thanksgiving certainly has its own. 

​​

Thanks, gratitude, and appreciation encircle us this time of year. It is from here we can pay forward the sentiment of the seasonal holiday by giving our thanks: to each other, to our faith, to our communities, to our surrounding environment and world. We can give the gift of thanks to nature by way of picking up litter, cleaning up our neighborhoods and parks, weeding gardens, plantings trees, donating food or time, or helping where needed. These "Acts of Thanks" not only can lift our spirits, but provide us with a sense of purpose, encircling us with gratitude and a sense of responsibility to others and our planet.

This gift keeps giving. It is the ripple effect. And it's a powerful gift that fills us with a greater connection to what surrounds us while simultaneously building unity and community.

It also reminds us that small acts such as these have a ​cumulative, heartwarming impact. Which begs the question: what small thing can you do to show your gratitude for the world around you?

So whether you celebrate Thanksgiving, "Friendsgiving," harvest, or something else, may this season fill you with appreciation and generosity. May it circle around you, spiraling forward and toward positive action--nurturing you, your loved ones, and the nature around you to help make the world a better place. You never know where your impact may end.

Image from https://www.vecteezy.com/photo/68594061-ripples-of-autumn-leaves-in-warm-golden-waters and https://stockcake.com/i/autumn-leaf-reflection_461084_76099 and banner image created at www.canva.com

Happy Thanksgiving 2024

 Image created at canva.com

Plan a Green Scene This Thanksgiving

Feasting season is swiftly approaching with Thanksgiving. With that in mind, here's an infographic I created to getting you thinking about ways to green your scene for your Thanksgiving celebration ahead. Ideas were inspired from Green Business Benchmark's article 15 Sustainable Tips for a Green Thanksgiving Celebration and The Junklugger's article Guide to a Green Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Infographic by Vicki Dabrowka &created using Canva.com

From One Holiday to the Next

The frenzy is upon us. That super tight window of time between Thanksgiving and the December holidays. In our house, that holiday is Christmas. Of course, in the retail world, the aisles were rivaling each other with the trifecta at the end of October. In a few stores I went to, the Christmas goods were far outnumbering the Halloween items!

I'm definitely a fan of one holiday at a time. When my daughter was younger I had to enforce the "no Christmas music before Thanksgiving" ruling. Some years that was harder than others. This year, for Thanksgiving, we had a table set for 18, making it very necessary to stay singularly-focused on Thanksgiving. Works that way when you are hosting! But now that Thanksgiving has now passed, the table has been stripped, the fall autumnal colors have been replaced, the tree is now up in a bit of a whirlwind. As a teacher with a 5-day Thanksgiving break and the supreme gift of time, the timing just seems to work out well to transform the house into the winter wonderland. [Though, even with that, I am always keen on making it so that all the decorations can go up (and ultimately come down at the end of the season) in roughly a 24-hour time period.]

I've long had a complicated relationship with Christmas. I suspect many parents do. The memories of the seasonal childhood magic gives you a definite eye-opening when you see how much work goes into making all that magic happen for children. There's a lot of moving parts, changing wish list items, shopping, decorating, outings, shopping, spending, more shopping, and "extras" that come during this time of the year. I can get exhausted and/or overwhelmed pretty darn easily. (Doubly harsh when I'm not a born shopper or spender.) I'd imagine I'm not alone. I think as an elementary teacher (where classrooms and bulletin boards also rotate seasonally, and kids' eyes sparkle in the hopes of all that's ahead), it adds to the tight timetable and the magical demands of this time of the year.

Additionally, I know that it can be a difficult time of the year for many in other ways too. The longer we spin on this planet, the more we live, love, and face loss. That can also bring hard emotions upon the season. Memories and merriment at times can counter each other.  Like I said, Christmas can be complicated.

This year, our halls got decked in a timely and patient manner. (I can't always say this.) I did it around naps and with the proper balance of sanity and serenity. I'm hoping to approach the entire season semi-holding on to this sentiment. One way I'm hoping to go about this mindset is through this advent calendar that I purchased from Sharing Kindness--one for me, one for a friend. We can be in sync with each other, and hopefully too it will soothe my tendency toward Christmas chaos during this in between season.

Hopefully you are managing the flip from one holiday to the next with the right energy and joy levels.  May you share kindness, compassion, and warm spirits along the way...even when the lines are long, the nerves are frazzled, and your over-packed schedule starts tipping your scales. 

Video from https://youtu.be/eJkGzsLUhRI?si=ZJ2wWUN2KDEEb6Fn and pics from my home.

Happy Thanksgiving

Having a little fun with the Canva Magic Tools, I created this graphic as a sticker for some candles I'll be placing around my house for Thanksgiving this year when we host our family gathering. Seemed also like the perfect one to share here today too.

Here's a little poem, in honor of the season, that ChatGPT crafted and I modified to round out my full sentiments of the season. 

In the amber glow of autumn's embrace, 

Hearts gather together, full of love and grace. 

A tapestry of love, woven tight and strong, 

A symphony of gratitude, a heartfelt song.

Nature's palette, a canvas so divine, 

Golden hues in the autumn sunshine. 

Beneath the boughs where the leaves surrender, 

Friends and family, a bond to remember. 

Grateful hearts, like leaves in the wind, 

A celebration of love, where memories begin.

Laughter dances in the crisp, cool air, 

A harvest of blessings, more than a feast we share.

So on this day of thanks, let's raise a cheer, 

For the bonds we cherish and hold dear;

In the company of family and our friends,

A Thanksgiving bounty that knows no end.

May you all have warm memories of Thanksgivings past, hearts full of love for friends and family, and loads to be thankful about this year. 

Image created on Canva.com using their Magic Media tools.

Thanksgiving Tech 2023

It feels like it was just summer and Labor Day, but already Halloween is in our rear-view mirror and Thanksgiving is ahead in a week.

Might be time for a little bit of Thanksgiving Tech. Especially if you are struggling to try to come up with what to do the short week of school, right prior to Thanksgiving. (Those days sometimes are the longest days of the school year.

Here are some great edtech finds:

• Turkey Templates for Thanksgiving Creativity and Writing--From 2017, but this is a perennial favorite that never gets old. Eric Curts of Control Alt Achieve shares some great Thanksgiving Google Slides template activities including these two: Build a Turkey & Disguise a Turkey. Fun creativity for your younger Google-friendly students.

• Build a "What I Am Thankful For" Turkey with Google Slides --Eric Curts was back at it again in 2021 with another Google Slide Template full of fun

• TCEA's 11 Thanksgiving Activities for Joy & Learning--Written by Peggy Reimers here in 2023, this TCEA Tech Notes blog post. It includes Thanksgiving trivia & "Would You Rather" games, along with links to story starter spinners, giving thanks word walls, a Gobble Gobble break out room, Wheel of Thanksgiving, Thankgiving Madness Bracket, and more. It is a somewhat updated version of her 2020 post, with some new ideas and some repeats.

• Best Free Thanksgiving Lessons and Activities--This Tech Learning 2023 article by Diana Restifo has focused lessons on perspective (taking us away from the long ago Pilgrim-centric "first Thanksgiving" stories to look at all of the parties involved--including the indigenous people. Looking at history through the lens of multiple perspectives is vital for building compassion and empathy AND learning the past. Here you will find lessons and links to about 18 different learning websites to enrich student knowledge on the history of Thanksgiving. 

• Elementary Nest's Ideas for Digital Thanksgiving Activities--Lots of links connected to Elementary Nest creator's resources at both Teachers Pay Teachers and her own website. Most items here are her creations and can be purchased.

• This Wixie board of Ideas for Thanksgiving has a multitude of cross curricular ideas for the season. It includes some design thinking activities in addition to digital ways to bring gratitude, creativity, and more together.

• For a compilation of just about anything else you can think of, check out this Thanksgiving Tech Activities Board from All Saints Episcopal School. It's definitely a cornucopia of computer activities for all grades.

From the looks of all of these activities, no one will go bored while they are getting their Thanksgiving tech activities all in order!!

Main photo created in Canva.com. Other Photos screenshot from https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2017/11/turkey-templates.html, https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2021/11/thankful.html, and https://blog.tcea.org/11-thanksgiving-classroom-activities/

The Magic of Canva When It Comes to Digital Design

Canva is one of my go-to design websites. It recently got even more fun with the addition of a lot of their "Magic" elements. They released their Magic Tools™ a few weeks ago. Just in time for a little magical wonderment for the Halloween season. Take a look at some of the AI generated awesomeness that it can do:

I ran across a post in the Facebook Canva Teachers Community and used a prompt created by teacher & "Canvassador" LaNedra Johnson that had darling pictures she created using the following prompt:

"Magic Media -> Text to Image -> Enter Prompt: Chibi (girl/boy), (color) hair, with glasses books, lap top, desk, professional, ultra realistic, Pixar style, 3d render, photo, anime, illustration"

So I tried my hand at it, as it certainly was an invitation to play. I tweaked the prompt somewhat and came up with the following:

I got 4 images upon my first prompt, and I could regenerate the images and tweak the text as many times as I liked. 

Of course, thinking about the Halloween & Thanksgiving seasons ahead, I had to get creative with that too.

I think we're about to have a lot of fun in my Digital Design class we have for upper elementary. 

(Note: At the start of the year, I did have the students and their parents fill out the Canva Consent form since they are under the age of 13.)

All photos created at canva.com, video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVCRcNlY1yw

Hope & Happy Thanksgiving

Given a little Halloween frightfest at the hospital this year (aka: scheduled surgery), I've been back to being laid up with more "wintering" and recovery happening at home. 

What does that mean for me? A lot of sleeping, reading, some TV binging, and repeating... once again. 

The timing of it is such that it has hit a lot of holidays: starting with Halloween, then spanning my Thanksgiving and Christmas, with the return being hopefully at the start of the new year. 

I did this purposefully to take advantages of the Thanksgiving and Winter Breaks, because ahhh... the calendar as decided by the teacher's school year!

One of the many books I read during this span of time was Hope: A User's Manual by MaryAnn McKibben Dana. I got it for a friend of mine who is troubled by the global climate crisis and how we always seem to miss our mark. As can happen with climate conversations, the level of doom and gloom can get you down. 

I wanted to give my friend "hope." Given "hope" has been a frequent theme in my own book choices, I felt I could use another dose of it myself, and got myself a copy as well.

The thing I really liked about this book (and something that made it fascinating to be reading it while sequestered at home during election season earlier this month), is that it referenced hope through the lens of so many things. 

Included in this list: elections, insurrections, social justice, systemic racism, climate change, pandemic pandemonium, and more. Many of these things are the exact concepts that (over the last half dozen years) still feel so heavy on me. Hope: A User's Manual met my post-hospitalization-hibernation well. I utilized this time to sleep, recover, and reflect on it all along with many other things. The author admitted early on the mere writing of the book, during the pandemic, was an attempt to "write herself back into a sense of hope" [p. 11]. 

I needed that book too.

MaryAnn McKibben Dana paints hope as different than optimism, toxic positivity, pithy platitudes, gaslighting, perfectionism, or over-romanticized nigglings and notions. 

Instead, hope is a "muscle to be exercised" [p. 22]. 

It is active not passive. 

It sometimes is quiet, and sometimes it gains fire from an anger that burns within. 

It can sometimes stem from joy and laughter and play. 

It can often times be uncomfortable--but we don't grow through comfort. 

It is a story we cultivate. 

It's the micro-movements we make. 

It's the breaths that stablize us. 

It's the beauty in nature that surrounds us. 

It's the small beacon of light on a dark day. 

It's the hard things that don't get fixed quickly or sometimes even in our generation, but that improve over time. 

It's the collective good fight to create a better world. 

It is grace, compassion, self-kindness, and perseverance. 

To me, hope has a lot of the same power as gratitude.

Gratitude is what alters your perspective toward what you have, not what you need. It can inspire you to give to those who need appreciation. It can lead you to give to grow your thankful heart.

May you have a Thanksgiving holiday filled with gratitude, friendship, countless blessings, and hope. 

Photos from https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/g22701713/happy-thanksgiving-quotes/?slide=9; Additionally, from the same website gallery: Slide 5, Slide 2, Slide 12, Slide 16, Slide 21, slide 22, Slide 25, Slide 29, Slide 32; Banner created at www.canva.com

Happy Thanksgiving 2021

Cheers to you and yours this Thanksgiving season. May your gratitude list be long this year, and may your health be well. 

If you are looking for some ways to help "pay it forward" this Thanksgiving season, this Yahoo news photo gallery "7 Ways to Give Back and Make an Impact on Thanksgiving" has some great ideas of ways to be of service this season.

Additionally, these old GTG archives might serve some Thanksgiving inspiration for food, fun, flavor, and festivities:

• Turkey Day is On the Way (2015)--For some school and home creative ideas

• Thanksgiving 2020--For some turkey dinner facts

• Happy Thanksgiving (2019)--For comic relief

• Have a #DeviceFree Dinner This Thanksgiving (2017)--For unplugging--always relevant!

• Happy Thanksgiving (2015)--For a bit of inspiration

Image created at canva.com.

Planning Your Environmentally-Friendly Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of family togetherness. But as with everything, it requires a little bit of planning. Here's an infographic I created to help you get your prep in order to be as environmentally-friendly as you can on Turkey Day!

While you're at it, be sure to check out the "Guest-imator" so you can plan for the right sized meal for all your guests!

Additionally this GTG post from last year has some good tips for planning a zero waste Thanksgiving.

Guestimator image from https://savethefood.com/guestimator/guests#guest-container and infographic created at canva.com

Go Find Some Place New

Last weekend, my son had an outdoor adventure with a buddy that took me to a regional area I don’t frequently go. It got me off my regular path, and given it was possibly one of the last nice days of before the weather shifts, I decided to find my way to a nearby nature park. 

My sights & senses included a multitude of scampering squirrels, crunchy leaves beneath my feet, the earth smell of wetlands, the color contrast of red berries on green vines against the mostly-barren trees at this point in the season. My trail led me beside a tidal marsh, a view of Chesapeake Bay Bridge, and barefoot in the sandy beach shore (where a few youngsters were building a sandcastle). Toe dipping in, the water of the Chesapeake Bay was certainly chilly!

While walking, I was also reflecting, ruminating, and pondering the last several months and the bulk of this past year. It reminded me how much I get from this nature connection, and how surprisingly infrequently I make time for these novel experiences... even in a year of novel coronavirus when calendars have opened to time I could spend this way, if I so choose. The hunkering down of quarantine doesn’t actually have to mean "hunker down." I think sometimes we forget that. We don’t just need to stay safe indoors. And this is coming from someone who has said it before: nature is the foil to all our technology. It’s our mental, spiritual, and emotional chiropractor. We just need to remember to go.

One observation from this year is that it’s the novelty of things is what seems to be missing thanks to Covid, where every day is Groundhog’s Day. There’s nothing new and different outside of possibly carryout and the different pair of sweatpants. But that’s what my meandering about showed me: that it's wrong. There is different everywhere. We just need to make the time to find it. Sometimes that seems to take energy and creativity, and when stretched to our bandwidth, those are hard to access. But what trekking the trail showed me, it was really just a matter of turning the car down a different road. Maybe surprise adventures like a day in a different park are the exact thing necessary for opening our creative and expanding our bandwidth.

Don’t be your own worst indoor enemy. Go find some new place to go—preferably outdoors. May just be the best thing to do this Thanksgiving weekend!

Photos from my camera at Terrapin Beach Park.

Thanksgiving 2020

With another holiday here in a pandemic year, things might be a tad different from your typical Turkey Day Traditions. 

Regardless of how Thanksgiving finds you this year, take time to connect with your loved ones, friends, and family as creatively as you can. Take time to be grateful for all that's in your life, even if it seems hard to find during difficult times. 

Here's some turkey tidbits and Thanksgiving fun facts to enjoy this holiday season. (And, if you need a smile, feel free to flashback to my GTG Thanksgiving tribute & annual tradition that I posted last year.)

Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Videos from https://youtu.be/i0qFGC-U9mI and https://youtu.be/sZjV7klZDCI, Image from https://www.the1thing.com/blog/the-one-thing/this-thanksgiving-make-gratitude-your-highest-priority/(which is an excellent article as well in helping you revisit the importance of perspective!)

School Decisions in the Time of Covid

This week—midweek—for a multitude of reasons including a few Covid cases, our Head of School & the Board of Trustees decided that yesterday (the Friday before Thanksgiving) we would “put a pause” on our hybrid school schedule. We have been in hybrid since the beginning of the school year, which has looked like this:

- Preschool to Grade 1 have been fully in session with the exception of a handful of families that opted to go remote. 

- Grade 2-5 have been in either as  Monday-Wednesday cohorts or Tuesday-Thursday cohorts, with every-other-Fridays (again, with some opting to go full remote)

- Grade 6-12 have been strict every-other-day cohorts of A & B in addition to the few full-remote-ers.

My colleagues and I (along with much of America) have been watching the Covid curve and the counts. Many of us educators who have been "going in" daily gave a little “hallelujah” when the decision was made--mainly because we are slightly "Covid-creeped out." Additionally, our few positive Covid cases combined with the contract tracing has really hit our teacher coverage hard, as some teachers were forced into quarantine along with students. Looking at the curve/case count now versus where we were in March  when everything shut down, our country has frighteningly surpassed where we were in lockdown by at least three-fold!

I will admit in my house, we are a science-following family & we “trend cautious” when it comes to Covid, mask wearing, distancing, & the like. Thanksgiving is less than a week away. (Mind-boggling!) As a family, we have already canceled our traditional, larger FamFest gathering due to the numbers & the late-breaking regional restrictions which are calling for indoor gatherings of less than 10. 

As I was leaving school both Thursday (with one of our Lower School hybrid cohorts) and Friday (with the other), knowing that Friday would be our last in-house day for awhile, I was struck in many ways. I glanced at my wall calendar, reminded of how it felt to walk in this August and see my wall calendar still welcoming March. As students were leaving both days this week, I wondered when they truly would be returning. As faculty and staff, we have been scurrying the last two days to prep the kids with all of those last minute tech skills and send the kids home with copious learning packets, ready for the unknown.

As teachers, we will be using our two pre-Thanksgiving days as planning for full-time remote, and (as of now) we are planning to be remote for the week following Turkey Day. Sadly, with Covid and the jadedness that comes with age, I have become a cynic. I do not trust people to do the right thing at Thanksgiving.... just as my social media thread has shown me “they” didn’t do the right thing at Halloween. I predict we will be in remote learning longer than just that week. I feel the Covid numbers in general will grow--in the same way we saw our local cases crop up following Halloween, largely due to rumored out-of-school events, often unmasked. Luckily, I have remained “quarantine-free”—though some of my colleagues who had to enter their second bout of quarantine based solely on the behavior of others to whom they were exposed. For some, the late timing of their "quarantine sentence" has now affected their own personal, family Thanksgiving.

This fall has already been so hard, exhausting, and often very much up in the air for teachers. For those of us physically in school, we were juggling our students zooming in from home with those masked in class around us--all while feeling like we were in the middle of a hot zone. My heart goes out to our health care professionals who are facing a similar situation as essential workers, though made more difficult to matters being ones of  life and death. As a very divided country where mask wearing has become political, it’s frustrating to those of us who are following every rule carefully to flatten the curve. But not everyone is. I found it is especially striking recently while discussing the Bill of Rights with our fourth graders. We looked at those first 10 Amendments through the relevant lens of recent news... including mask wearing in the time of Covid. 

I'm reminded of our transition to the remote learning of the spring, when it was so hard then. And yet, now we see, hybrid teaching is even harder, and we have chuckled upon that realization--who would have  thought in March we would ever have said anything could be harder! Now, 8 months later, at the end of our Fall trimester, we realize how lucky (and surprised) we have been to have made it to this point of the school year--making it all the way to Thanksgiving! We managed to stay in session with our hybrid format and our protocols far longer than many of us ever thought we could. Many schools were not able to open in person to any degree this fall. THAT certainly garners some gratitude. 

I pray for grace for us all for the winter ahead with Covid and its germs looming here in the middle of cold and flu season. May the verminous germs stay at bay. And, may we collectively make decisions that take us all into account, helping us all take care of each other until the vaccine goes into effect!

Stay safe out there!

Crossroads meme created at https://imgflip.com/i/4ncxhc, mask cartoon https://momentousinstitute.org/blog/how-to-help-students-adapt-to-wearing-a-mask, Covid curve https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/09/01/816707182/map-tracking-the-spread-of-the-coronavirus-in-the-u-s, mask from https://www.pagodaapparel.com/product/give-thanks-mask/

Planning For a Zero Waste Thanksgiving

Food waste in America accounts for approximately 30-40% of our food supply. With Thanksgiving ahead and while you are planning your feast for 1 to 21, here are some great thoughts for shooting for a zero waste Thanksgiving this year.

For more ideas on this, check out my GTG post from 2 years ago.

An additional note on Thanksgiving:

In many communities, Covid cases are at record levels (as they are for us in America as a nation). In my local area, our county council has limited indoor events to 10 or under (outdoor events to 25) due to Covid counts. If you celebrate Thanksgiving, please go forward as safe as possible. Masks, distancing, and maybe even rethinking your typical traditions to follow suit to your own local restrictions. Let's go forward thinking about our over-saturated hospitals overloaded with too many Covid cases and weighing down our health care workers. Let's do it thinking about our loved ones, who hopefully we can see at Christmas rather than risking them. Part of Thanksgiving is being grateful for all we have--let's be thankful for our freedoms while also taking caring of each other. That's what our Veterans, who we just celebrated last week, would do.

Video from https://youtu.be/-E4242LSJWg, image from https://www.wastewiseproductsinc.com/blog/recycling-tips/how-to-go-zero-waste-this-thanksgiving/ (where you'll find more good tips!)

Happy Thanksgiving

God love the advent of YouTube--it's a way have your own personal "Back to the Future" experience!

One of my personal Thanksgiving season traditions requires a visit to YouTube. It's clearly a common Google search as it pops right up even before you finish typing "WKRP Thanksgiving Turkey Drop."


Disclaimer: It's not an environmentally-friendly clip as it has a bit of the dark and macabre humor to it, but it's a classic throwback to 1978 and my childhood, and makes me laugh like crazy every time, every year.

Additionally, it takes me back to simpler times. Not just because it was before I was an adult (and everything seemed simpler when you were a kid), but also because it WAS back before the time of YouTube, cell phones, social media, hashtags, Pinterest-perfect photo ops, iPads, 24-7 news cycles, and constant connection.

It reminds me of this article I recently read on Grown & Flown's website: "Seven Reasons Why Thanksgiving Was Just Better in the ’80s" It takes me back to a time where I was at the kids' table at one or the other of my grandparents' houses (or even at my own house on holidays). There, seated 'round the table, were loved ones--many of whom have since-passed. It was a family-focused day where the TV was off and community was key.

Do I want to go back to those days? Only sort of, as I do miss those who are no longer here and the simplicity of those days, but there is certainly a richness in having a family of my own. It all makes you realize that conceptually we need to go back to those days prior to devices and unplug while you can, taking advantage of the gifts and gratitude that's in front of you.

Have a wonderful, heart-filled and blessed Thanksgiving this year.

video from  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p00nBSNIPwg and image from https://myalon.com/2015/11/19/thanksgiving-a-time-to-express-gratitude/

Happy Thanksgiving 2018

May your season be warm and colorful. 

May your hearts be full of love and laughter.

May your feast be filled with friends and family.

May gratitude fill your soul.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Art created at Canva.com

No-Waste Thanksgiving

I don't know about your Thanksgiving traditions, but as for many Americans, I'm nearly certain they center around the food, the feast, the festivities. And usually, lots of lots of all of that. If your house is like mine--typically too much of it!

Typically, across the United States, 40% of all food goes to waste. This stems from super-sized portions at restaurants, expiration dates, over-shopping, and on holidays like Thanksgiving, planning too much for the crew coming to you.


With all of that in mind, here are some tips to go about having a no-waste Thanksgiving (and other feasts and feeding frenzies throughout the year:

FoodTank Resources:

• This statistic from FoodTank was startling:  "Each year, consumers purchase over 700 million pounds of turkey, according to the National Turkey Federation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) projects that 35 percent of the meat purchased does not get eaten–ending up in landfills, along with sweet potatoes, green beans, pumpkin pie, and other holiday fare."
• In addition to facts like that above, there are a slew of practical ideas you can do, down to donating your leftovers to local food banks
• FoodTank provides 14 apps to help you link your excess food to your smartphone.

RecycleNation provides 8 ideas on how hone in on your planning to help cut down on too many leftovers. They include:

• checking your guest list, 
• turkey shopping for your numbers, 
• consider going meat free, 
• watching for dishes that need special ingredients (where the rest then gets wasted), 
• making stock with the bones or using FindAComposter to repurpose that food waste,
• sending leftovers home with your guests,
• getting creative with the leftovers you are left with!
• using the dishwasher versus handwashing--it's more water efficient!

Hungry Harvest's variation to the theme is also to freeze whatever leftovers you know you aren't going to get to. Additionally, bumping up those veggies always helps! MindBodyGreen and Wild Minimalist, agree, adding in letting natural items inspire your decor (versus anything store-bought or plastic).

Popular Science also included a lot of the ideas above (including finding a composting center) and this per person serving:

• 1 lb turkey per person
• Proteins 4-8 oz (1/2 cup to 1 cup)
• Starches 4-8 oz
• Vegetables 4-6 oz

However my favorite share of theirs was their link to the Guest-imator tool, a calculator designed to help you plan your Thanksgiving menu. You plug in # eaters (by small, average, and big eaters), amount of leftovers, and the type of menu you want: "Classic Thanksgiving," "Veggie Paradise." and "Smorgasbord" w/a little bit of everything. I'm definitely going to check that one out!

Whatever you plan for this Thanksgiving ahead, may your meal be plentiful, just not overflowing! Think largely while you eat lightly--maybe still a feast for you, but lightening the load on our planet!

Clipart from http://www.lovethispic.com/image/44755/snoopy-and-charlie-brown-thanksgiving; http://clipart-library.com/snoopy-thanksgiving-cliparts.html; Guest-imator image from https://savethefood.com/guestimator; video from https://youtu.be/z1X-HWPbeD4

Have a #DeviceFreeDinner This Thanksgiving

Common Sense Media is the king of all things kid-friendly and tech-healthy!

Make your Thanksgiving Season one that's balance, safe, & tech-free by taking a pledge and making a commitment to going device free while feasting!

For some more festive and fun plans for your holiday season, check out the following links:

• Check out Common Sense Media's YouTube Page
• Common Sense Media's Tips, Tools, and Activities page
• #DeviceFreeDinner with Evite & Common Sense Media
• Get specially-crafted evites and a family fun guide here.
• Make a Family Media Plan (sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics)
• Watch the videos below to see what your loved ones see when you go all tech-obsessed! Will Ferrell's 2017 additions to Common Sense Media's existing #DeviceFreeDinner video collection are a Thanksgiving delight!

Image created using Buncee.com:
https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/5F1B6FCDE2434793A4905B80933E8708;

Out in Nature & Being Sure To #OptOutside This Black Friday: Gratitude Part 2

A weekend or 2 ago, one of the things I most wanted to do was go hiking with my family. So we did. And there is photographic proof of it. One of my favorite things about this picture is that the background of the collage is an another photo from the day--the amazingly brilliant oranges and golden hues of the season.

Walking meditations while outside, soaking in the beauty of autumn, is something to totally be thankful for.

Another thing to be thankful for: REI and their second annual invitation to #OptOutside. The gist of the campaign: REI is purposely, pointedly closing (both in stores and online) on the day after Thanksgiving (traditionally known as Black Friday--shopping, sales galore and more). Their philosophy (not to mention the whole brand of their store) is to get people outside, embracing nature, and bringing out everyone's best. So, all 149 stores are closed Black Friday, and their 12,287 employees get a paid day off.

Last year, 170 companies did the same.  This year... 475 companies are on board to do the same thing, so REI isn't going it alone.  Add in, National Parks from 22 states are offering free admission to further encourage people to get out there and enjoy nature.

Added bonus in opting outdoors... time unplugged. If you are outside, you can't get sucked into the vortex of social media and the likes of Facebook. It's a total escape from the media blitz and bad news of present day politics. If you are out and about, moving and grooving and in the moment, you can't be reading from the phone in the palm of your hand or from the screen upon your lap. Plus, sitting and being sedentary is the new smoking & peril of our time. Being out, and really one with nature and viewing is a beautiful, wonderful thing.

"As a nation we're still spending over 90 percent of our lives indoors and it's a trend we need to tackle," said REI CEO Jerry Stritzke in a statement. "The moment we announced our decision last year, people who build their lives around the outdoors really embraced the idea of reclaiming Black Friday. It took on a life of its own and became about much more than REI."

At this writing, more than 2 million people have opted in to #OptOutside.  Will you? For an activity finder, check out their website. For some inspiration, check out their gallery.


Video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMsxrJeJ8lU
"Will You Go Out With Me" pic http://blog.rei.com/news/optoutside-will-you-go-out-with-us/; other photos from our outdoor adventures.