Thanksgiving is tomorrow! A time for giving thanks, right? I suppose some things I’m thankful for are having an extremely easy week almost without classes and of course being home with the family (I survived the traffic!). Like many families, mine has some interesting traditions around this time of year. Some examples:
-We make “claytions”, potato dumplings from a recipe we inherited from Germany. They are a rather unconventional part of the Thanksgiving meal, but in my opinion one of the best parts.
-We celebrate birthdays on Thanksgiving. My family always likes to celebrate birthdays when everyone (or almost everyone) is actually present, so I’ll be getting gifts for my September birthday on Friday.
-We’ll be avoiding Black Friday shopping.
-Like many Jews, we order in Chinese food on Christmas. Unlike many Christians, we also have latkahs on Christmas morning with our non-Jewish friends.
-On New Year’s we make a lot of noise at midnight, including but not limited to my sister’s trombone and various percussive instruments.
-On any given occasion, we’ll all be taking roughly eight billion pictures.
Happy Thanksgiving!