Thanksgiving past, present and future
I've only been home for one Thanksgiving in the last 9 years, so I've grown accustomed to having a non-traditional celebration with friends, instead of family.
In fact, I've come to love it. In a way it surprises me because the ones at home were so unforgettable.
Thanksgivings at home were similar to Thanksgivings here because ever since I can remember, my family (mom, dad, brother, and sister) has rented a cabin up in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado with a bunch of friends.
The memories from these Thanksgivings always fill me with warmth and love whenever I reminisce about them:
Thanksgiving morning we would wake up to smells of the Turkey in the oven, help out (a little), go for walks and, depending on the snowfall, we would sled. Usually there was not enough snow yet to go sledding. But one year in particular I remember a huge snowfall where we played in the snow the entire weekend.
Our family would share a cabin with our best friend's family - who by the way, are just about the funniest people to be with.
I remember waking up and seeing my mom and her friend Bev busy in the kitchen dressed in their p.j.'s, laughing and joking just as happy as can be.
At dinner, Bev's husband, John, and mother, Dolly, would always give the silly Thanksgiving prayer. They would make everyone get down on their elbows and knees and fold hands. Then they would recite this prayer, "I know my heart, I know my mind, I know that I stick up behind." We then would give thanks and dig in to the wonderful feast spread across a beautifully decorated table.
We would waste the day away playing games, cards and laughing until we were crying. After eating we would head into the park to see elk and other wildlife - some would just take naps.
Thanksgiving night, we would meet up with all the other families renting cabins and have a HUGE Thanksgiving dessert.
I would look forward to that weekend all year long.
My first Thanksgiving away was hard. I was a freshman at University of Montana, and went home with my roommate to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family in Bozeman.
It just did not compare. The Thanksgivings while in college were a lot like that, but then things started to change once I moved to Whitefish.
Whitefish Thanksgivings are a time to give thanks indeed.
Waking up whenever I want, meeting up with my friends and going for a few runs on Big Mountain (depending on the snow pack), and then coming home and making a dish or two and getting together with your friends. Stragglers, who either have to work so they can't go home or, like me, have come to love Thanksgivings in Whitefish.
My two Thanksgivings here wonderful memories. The first one me and two girl friends were living downtown in a beautiful apartment. We went up to the mountain for a few backside runs, then came home and prepared our dishes and had about 15 people over to celebrate. I think we had about 20 bottles of wine to help us.
Needless to say it was a time of thanks and celebration. The night before, my roommate made 3 pies. We went out (because honestly, living downtown meant being only a stumble away from the downtown life, literally.) It was hard to say no when everyone was going and it was SO close - too close at times.
When we got home, she put the pies in the oven and then accidentally fell fast asleep. At about 2 a.m. I woke up to go to the bathroom and smelled something burning and went into the kitchen to find the pies in the oven. Luckily, I pulled them out just in time. I saved Thanksgiving that year, we joked later.
Last year we celebrated with over 20 people in my new house. Couples, singles, everyone who couldn't be with their families came.
I had made the pies the night before, with help from my baker friend Jen. We set them out to cool that night, with towels over them. Thanksgiving morning we woke up to paw prints in the pies from our kitties exploring the kitchen in the night. Just an extra bonus to the pies. (I wonder what will happen to the pies this year?)
Before the festivities began we went skiing on what I can say was the best opening day in years, and then relaxed in the Ptarmigan hot tub and pool.
I think that Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks for the present, past and future. Most of the people I know in town spend Thanksgiving the same way.
It's a day to be with friends, if family is not around. It's a day to relax and do whatever the heck you want. It's a day to give thanks for all the pleasures and wonders of this life.
Hope all your Thanksgivings are full of all these qualities and endless memories and good times to come!
Lindsey Nelson is the photographer at the Whitefish Pilot