Thanksgiving

Take an alien's aerial view of this American holiday. Once a solar year, everyone in a geographic part of the world gets busy. They fly, drive, walk, or take a bus to some other location where they stop, eat turkey, turn around, and go home again, at which point they resume their regular life. What's it all about?

If aliens apply the method we use to explain everything we don't understand from the past, they will say it's a religious event ... maybe we eat turkey to ward off evil spirits but the magic protection is only potent if we consume turkey with the people we trust most. But, truth be told, Thanksgiving is one of the few American holidays that's not about religion or the consumer index. While the travel industry may benefit from Thanksgiving - and turkeys clearly do not - there are no cards to buy, gifts to give, or expections to meet. The United States economy is not measured by how much we spend at Thanksgiving. Such a lovely holiday. It's all about food, family, being appreciative, and sharing.

So in the spirit of my upcoming trip to Cairo, I post today a photo taken in Khan el-Khalili earlier this year. If I'm correct, Egypt's word for bread also means life. Today is about being thankful for both.