We packed up some turkey-day leftovers and jumped in the Falcon. We were headed for South Cape Bay - the southern most point of land in Australia.

   So when we discovered oysters along the Huon River, there was only one thing to do.

   They were a little "fresh" because we were a long way from the ocean here but they were tasty, there were heaps of them, and they were free!

"Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.”
― W.T. Purkiser

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   Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday... It's a nice idea to give "thanks" - to appreciate your family, friends, what you have and don't have, where you are, and life in general.

   Also I love pie - pumpkin pie, apple pie, and pecan pie. So - we had Thanksgiving in Hobart!

   We invited some friends over, a family of 3, set up a dining table in the - you guessed it - the dining room, and ate turkey, potatoes, and beans (the staples of a Thanksgiving dinner). Followed by apple pie, pumpkin pie, and our guests brought an amazing pecan pie and American brownies! (Neither pumpkin pie or pecan pie are "normal" desserts here... and American brownies speak for themselves...)
  
   Celebrating Thanksgiving was sort of a curiosity for the Aussies involved, none of whom had ever celebrated this American holiday before. So I read up on its origins before dinner (in between making pies and mashed potatoes)....

   In school we learned it was when the Pilgrims and Indians feasted together to celebrate a good harvest (and being friends and all - but we know how that turned out...). Thanks to Wikipedia I learned a little more about the origins...  "Days of Thanks Giving" and the opposite, "Days of Fasting" have roots in English tradition dating to the Reformation. "They" (the reformers) decided to get rid of some extra religious holidays around that time and replaced them with either a day of thanks or a day of fasting depending on the mood of the day being celebrated, as I understand it... These "days of thanks" could spring up whenever something good happened. Like a big Indian harvest dinner being shared with the Pilgrims!

   Anyway, what a good idea to make Thanksgiving a permanent holiday! I think we should seriously think about instating a couple extra "days of thanks" throughout the year...

   As for the Australian view, they thought it was sort of like an American Christmas with no presents and were completely intrigued by the concept of Turducken.... The pies were all enjoyed and everyone over-ate in true American fashion...:)

Our house in Hobart.