Thanksgiving Traditions

     Every family seems to have special traditions for Thanksgiving. I'm not sure what it is about this holiday in particular but every family seems to put their own spin on the special occasion. Since there is only a week until Thanksgiving, I decided to talk about my own family Thanksgiving tradition.

     Interestingly enough, my favorite tradition doesn't even take place on Thanksgiving! The day after Thanksgiving, a large portion of my extended family go bird feeding at Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary. You might think that sounds incredibly boring, but it has actually become something I very much look forward to every year. It always start with meeting together in the parking lot and waiting for everyone to arrive as we throw around a football. Some of us were always together just yesterday for Thanksgiving, but for many of us who didn't spend the holiday together, it’s the first time we've seen each other since the summer. Once everyone is there, we all head of into the woods; kids, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, all equipped with a bag of bird seed.

     When we were younger, it was always a competition to see who could get the most birds. I can't be sure but I'm pretty sure my record was in the upper three hundreds one year.  The parents also loved the experience because they always told us the only way to get a bird to land on our hand was to be perfectly silent and still. As you can imagine every kid stood perfectly quiet. As the years have gone on, it has become less about the actually feeding of birds, and more about just taking a nice walk in the woods with the family. Of course it is still a rush when a bird lands on your hand, but that is only a small part of the adventure. There are specific spots where we all stop to take pictures, such as the bridge or the big tree. Even when the walk is over, the tradition is not. We always go back to my grandparents house to enjoy a great combination of pizza and Thanksgiving leftovers.

      This year is especially important because it is the first year that my older cousin will be bringing her little kids to the family tradition. This will mark the first of the newest generation of Dieselman to participate in the tradition. Although it might not sound like the most exciting thing in the world, it has become an important part of our Thanksgiving traditions and something that I really enjoy every year.