Happy Thanksgiving!

June, July, August, September, and October were no doubt very dull months indeed, which is why they deserved no remembrance.  Nor did most of November. But with Thanksgiving behind us, I have to preserve at least one jolly thing.  We had the pleasure of hosting some of Justin's family for the feast day, and determined as a gathering activity to have everyone create their own Thanksgiving-themed game.  After creating said game, we laminated them and passed them around so everyone could take a turn playing and vote on which was the most fun.  The stakes in this contest were high: with 8 sets of real silverware to be had and only 6 adults to use them, the two best game-makers would earn the privilege of eating very fancy. I printed up all sorts of interesting and fun facts about Thanksgiving should our game-makers go the crossword puzzle or word search route.  The adults all took right to it, but the children were having none of that.  Andrew wrote up the rules for a game very similar to tag, but in addition to the person who was it (the Turkey), there was an immunity-imparting, healing agent dubbed the Potato.  Evelyn created a board game in which players could opt either to be a turkey or an Indian.  Julia wrote a Mad Lib which we all filled in together.  Katharine demurred to play at the time, though later created a maze in which a pilgrim tries to find his way to the turkey.  Eli wrote a Choose Your Own Adventure story, and since writing not only confers immortality on the author but also easy transmission, I record the piece for our readers' Thanksgiving Weekend Pleasure:

"Choose one and choose a letter.  Follow the symbols at the end of your choice, find them again, and choose another one.  Choose until it says the end.

Once upon a time there lived a(n)

A.  Indian-read on at 1
B.  Pilgrim-read on at 2
C.  Mouse-read on at 3

1.  The Indian was
  a.  waiting with nothing to do. !
  b.  running wild like a barbarian.  @
  c.  playing with stone figurines.  #

2.  The pilgrim stayed...
 a.  In the boring country of England--the end
 b.  on the boat until they died.--the end
 c.  on the Mayflower and they made it.!--$

3. The mouse
 a.  starved because they were too picky to eat rotten cheese or meat.--the end
 b.  choked down the food and stayed on the boat till it landed. %
 c.  Ate the food but went on an adventure, fell through a crack, and drowned. --the end

!--suddenly some pilgrims landed in your house and
 a.  they freaked you out.--the end.
 b.  you didn't notice.--the end.
 c.  you were friends. ^

@--you came back.  The pilgrims were there, so
 a.  see !a
 b.  see !c
 c.  you hid until it was safe to come out, and when it was, you had a feast together.  the end.

#--you were too small to tell the difference.  the end.

$--you
 a.  ran off with an indian that you became BFFs with.
 b.  shot an indian so their friends stabbed you with their stone knives.  the end.
 c. you waited for Squanto and had your feast and lived happily ever after.  the end.

%--you
 a.  stay in the boat until you rot/drown.  the end.
 b.  run off the boat and played with the indian mice in happiness.  the end.
 c.  do b, but a wild cat finds and eats you. the end.

^--
 a.  tragically, your parents forbid you to be friends.  the end.
 b.  you stayed friends until the feast and lived happily ever after.  the end.
 c. you stopped being friends after a while and you never saw each other again.  the end.

THE END!"

And thus we see the increasing attractiveness of socialism; it's a dangerous business to choose one's own adventure.

Happy Thanksgiving!