Thanksgiving in Australia

It doesn’t exist. Sure, they have a
day in March that for the past two years has been called “Thanksgiving,” but it
ranks right up there with the wheat festival. Thanksgiving is a uniquely
American (OK and they also celebrate it in September in

Canada

,
but I don’t think it’s the same). Can you imagine the end of November without
family, food, and football? How bout those smells from the kitchen, and everyone
on their best behavior (mostly.)

I think that

America

celebrates Thanksgiving because we are grateful for what we have built for
ourselves, with the help of the Almightily. Back during the Pilgrim times they
had little, but they were still thankful.  Americans are grateful, in general,
for what we have and it’s like us to take a couple of days off and actually
think about what we have and what we have done to get
there.

Many people simply expect that what
they have is a birthright. We don’t. We know, in our hearts, that to have what
we have takes work, sacrifice, and vision. We are workers. We have the highest
productivity per worker on earth, bar none. But certainly we understand that in
addition to our good work, we also are fortunate enough to have at our
fingertips all the raw materials we need, and for that we must thank the good
Lord, the vision of our forefathers, and our neighbors and
friends.

Thanksgiving is our time to do that.
So maybe, before you dig in to turkey and all the rest, take a moment and
reflect on how much better off you are now than you were a year or two ago.

Down here, its just another day for
the Australians, but for me, today,  I’ll take that moment, as I throw another
shrimp on the barby…

 All the
best

JVH