Feast

As we approach Thanksgiving, internet news is ablaze with “how-to’s” in assisting with the feast, traditions of the celebration, regional differences, and of course the idealization of the first Thanksgiving held 393 years ago. This uniquely American celebration over time has crossed the boundaries of varied ethnic settlement, to where today most, but not all, celebrations have some similarities. In that sense it representative of the United States. Rather than being a melting pot, the nation is more like a stew, with a combination of some ingredients that meld together while others retain certain unique characteristics.  As it is with our nation's population, so it is with our Thanksgiving dinner.

Representation of first Thanksgiving

Turkey is often the key fare, followed by a potato of some sort, dressing, cranberries, and (hopefully) pumpkin pie. For some reason, even the green bean casserole dish made with soup and French fried onions on top apparently has become tradition. On the radio today, a survey in all fifty states by Del Monte indicated that 77% of people in Wisconsin liked or loved the green bean casserole, and even Donna, the famed U.W. nutritionist, noted that while it is full of calories go ahead and eat it, as it has come to be identified with Thanksgiving. By the way, Wisconsin is second in approval of this casserole only to Kentucky.

Liked or Loved by 77% of Wisconsinites

But there are differences in not only how some of the food may be cooked, but also in what food is served. Some may cook the turkey differently (deep fried, grilled or roasted; brined or not), sweet verse white potatoes, and of course dressing can be made a variety of ways. I think my spouse sometimes thinks of this dinner as not so much a Thanksgiving feast, but a carb-fest. If it were up to her, many of the carb-heavy dishes would be dropped. To me the heavy carbohydrate foods are traditional to the feast and a thanksgiving dinner without them, would not be a thanksgiving dinner. That would be like taking beer and fireworks away from the fourth of July. I prefer to look at the variety of car foods available, including dinner rolls and sweet breads, as a matter of choice. It is not like you have to try everything.

Dressing

What we think of as traditional probably evolves from our own childhood experiences of the feast. For my family, it has been traditional fare, including green bean casserole. Dressing is one of my favorite Thanksgiving foods, and I would watch my mother make the dressing early Thanksgiving morning, and stuff the turkey, plus make a Nesco Roaster full as well. Along with turkey, it is one of the dishes I like to make for the family gathering on Thanksgiving, although in a salute to somewhat healthier food, I now supplant much of the butter, as my mom would have used, with broth cooked from the turkey gizzards.

Roasted turkey

A recent article on the CNN website, had eleven items which will be argued on Thanksgiving. the eleven did not include politics, religion, or the dealings in Ferguson, rather it was heavy items that weigh on all our minds, such as: when to eat; what to do before hand; what to serve for dessert (as if that should be difficult); is shopping on Thanksgiving day acceptable; and in recognition of our modern era, do you allow cell phones at the table. Of course, they note arguing over food also occurs: what is the best way to cook a turkey, to make dressing and what to add to the mashed potatoes. They author of that article suggested a late dinner of six or seven pm, but our tradition has dinner mid afternoon, following a touch football game, which allows for ease of travel for those going a distance. While the author suggested children be seated at a separate dinner table, we have tried, when space is available, to do one large table, although the children tended to gravitate toward on end. When I was growing up the kids and adults were intermixed. For some reason, I was always by my Dad, with my brother Joe across, and years later it occurred to me--we were the three that probably ate the most. Just keep the food coming to our end of the table.

2012 Hovel family Thanksgiving dinner table (photo by author)
Note that not all chairs have been placed at the table

But, our celebration is more than food. it is for giving thanks, and for interaction. Interaction occurred on the first Thanksgiving between Native Americans and the immigrant settlers--the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims were celebrating a successful harvest that year, but of course it was the Indians who had taught them how to fish in the waters of this new land, and cultivate corn. Maybe, if that sharing of the first Thanksgiving had spread to other parts of the continent as settlement occurred a better appreciation would have developed between the European settlers and the indigenous population eliminating some of the strife that would follow.

Map of Ethnicity in the United States

The nation is now primarily occupied mainly be those who are descended from immigrants to this continent. This diversity has given us a symphony of different foods, traditions, and habits, but yet Thanksgiving is a unifying late fall event to recognize that differences are not always bad, that regardless where one is from people are still people. We may have different ideas of how to cook a turkey, or even if to have turkey, but this is really secondary to the fact of a celebration with others. This was recognized on that first Thanksgiving. As much as I may not like the famous green bean casserole, it does not matter to me that it is served, as I do not have to eat it. After all it may mean, even though my spouse may not like it, more dressing and carb laden foods for me. As for Thanksgiving, perhaps Eric Hollis, OSB said it best in his blog: "Thanksgiving...is a hugely important act, and because it is we can't reserve it to just one meal a year." As we gather tomorrow with friends and family let us recall the heritage of the nation, how this one holiday brings different cultures together, show our commonalities, and how we should be thankful each and every day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all images from Google images.

North to South

There are some truths on which one should always be able to rely.  For example, the sky is blue, the Chicago Bears will lose to the Green Bay Packers, the Pope is Catholic, and that north is north.  When using a compass, the arrow will point to magnetic north, which is not the same as the North Pole.  Some world maps show both the North Pole and magnetic north, but magnetic north is fluid.  The location of magnetic north is dependent upon the inner workings in the center of the earth.  Scientists now think that the earth is nearing a time when the poles will reverse.

Magnetic pole influence

A NASA article notes that over the past 20 million years, the earth has settled in a pattern of pole reversal of every 200,000—300,000 years.  The last known pole reversal was 781,000 years ago, so in geologic time frame, we are due for another pole reversal.  If the poles reverse, my compass will no longer point north, but instead will point south.  If you were to take your compass and hop in Doc Brown’s DeLorean, and go back in time 800,000 years, you would find the compass pointing south.  If you went back 500,000 years ago it would be located in the north, similar to what is today.    The magnetic field, however, is important to more than our compass.

Cross section of the earth

The earth’s magnetic field is due to the big ball of iron that is located at the core of the earth, and that core is surrounded by a layer of molten metal. Changes in core temperature and the rotation of the earth swirl this liquid, molten metal and create the magnetic  field.   As the core’s temperature changes the boiling in one part of the outer core slows down and releases fewer charged particles.  This weakens the magnetic field.  The European Space Agency (ESA), has been tracking magnetic field and other data from its Swarm satellite.  The magnetic field produced by this activity rises up to 370,000 miles above surface of the earth.  This protects us against solar and cosmic radiation.  ESA reports that large weak spots in the magnetic field have popped up over the Western Hemisphere.  A weakened magnetic field could lead to higher cancer rates as solar and cosmic rays penetrate the atmosphere and reach earth.  Perhaps we in the Western Hemisphere need to be more careful outside, but this is particularly true if you are a red head.   

Map showing alteration in magnetic field, blue it is being reduced
red indicates where field is increasing

NASA reports that magnetic north has moved northerly by more than 600 miles since the early 19^th century.  (Magnetic north was never aligned, at least in modern times, with the North Pole.)  Explorers of that era precisely located magnetic north.  However, it is now reported that the movement of magnetic north  is about twice the rate than it was about 100 years earlier.  Physics.org notes that evidence would appear to indicate that the magnetic field slowly fades out before reappearing with the poles reversed.  So the weakening in the Western part of the globe has some scientists wondering if we are in the midst of an upcoming pole reversal.  However, the magnetic field over the Indian subcontinent has been strengthening. 

This image indicates the movement of magnetic north

What is interesting is how scientists were able to find evidence of pole reversals.  It is not like it was written down nearly 800,000 years ago in a cave in France, or a rift valley in Africa the last time it happened.  They know this from studying rock layers.  As you recall from early science there are three types of rocks, igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary.  Igneous rocks are formed by the flow of lava and lava contains metal oxide particles.  These metal oxide particles when cooled will essentially be frozen in the direction of the prevailing magnetic field.  By studying past lava flows, hopefully hot upset by earthquake activity, scientists know the historic position of magnetic north.  Rocks of the ocean floor and in Italy have been studied, and to date they point to 170 magnetic pole reversals during the last 100 million years. 

Volcanic spring which contains metal oxide particles

Are they occurring more frequently?  If the last one occurred 781,000 years ago, it would seem not likely since the average spacing is about 588,000 years between reversals over the 100 million year time period.  If you wish to really get back in time, it is also thought that there have been more flips between 500 million and 1.5 billion years ago, than 1.5 to 2.9 billion years ago.   Why is this occurring?  One explanation is that the inner core is slowly growing as the outer core cools and solidifies.  They theorize that as this occurs the pole flips would occur more frequently.  The idea is just like a bigger prostate restricts the urinary tract leading to less output, so too does a larger core become an obstruction to currents in the fluid outer core, leading to a less stable magnetic field.  A less stable magnetic field apparently leads to more pole reversals.

Standard field compass

Fortunately, the historical record does not seem to support any doomsday scenarios where mass destruction of life on earth was affected by a pole reversal.   Geo-physicists have studied oxygen isotopes in the rock to believe that the pole reversal does not affect the rotation of the earth.   However, modern society was long in the distant future when the last reversal occurred, and the population of the earth has become dependent upon electricity, and it is possible that communication systems and power grids would be most at risk.  Then again, these systems, as we were told, were not to have survived intact in Y2k. (To me Y2k was conceived by some IT people as a IT full employment act.)  So, if this is to occur, over what course of time does the reversal occur?  One article, in Scientific American, quotes the manager of the ESA Swarm project as saying “Such a flip is not instantaneous, but would take many hundred (sic) if not a few thousand years.”  However, Paul Renne, a professor at the University of California at Berkley in earth and planetary science, says in Techtimes.com, that their study of rocks and data indicated that at least the last one “had to have happened very quickly, probably in less than 100 years.” 

The movement of magnetic north should not disrupt
the delivery of goods on Christmas

So perhaps in my grandchildren, or even children’s life time, they will see magnetic north become south.  Perhaps their cell phone may not work for a while, and they may be more susceptible to cancer due to the weakening magnetic field.  The poles should still be the poles, the sky will still be blue, and contrary to what some in the US church hierarchy may think, the Pope will still be Catholic.  While we can always hang on to some certainties, I would not want to be the person out for a backpacking trip and have my compass is giving me the wrong bearing.   

Images from Google Images

A Flower in the Brown Band

In 1918 the Armistice between the Allies and Germany to end the Great War, now known as World War I, took effect at 11:00 am of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year 1918.  Like too many conflicts, the Great War began from a series of missteps, misunderstandings, missed communications, and missed opportunities to end it before it began.  Today has become larger than Armistice Day as it was first known.  In the United States it is now known as Veteran’s Day, to honor all those who have served their country.  There is no greater symbol of the Great War than the poppy which was popularized in the poem “Flanders Fields” written by Canadian Doctor John McCrae. Why did the poppy become such a powerful symbol of such a terrible series of events and battles?  While the color of the poppy recalls the blood that was shed in this engagement, it seems to me the poppy is also a symbol of hope.  How could a flower in a sea of devastated landscape not provide some hope?  In the wet, dark trenches any sign of life was probably an event to which the men looked forward.  To understand is to see the contrast between devastation and the flower, between death and life, between war and peace.

Flanders Fields

Methods of war in 1918 were different than that seen with the blitzkrieg and speeds of World War II.  It mainly involved trench warfare, with sides making little headway but realizing great casualties.  Between battle lines there lay a vast waste zone; but for men and rats, little survived.  Any one reading the great work of this war, All Quiet on the Western Front, or having seen Hollywood movies of the war, a most recent being “War Horse”, the images can tell more than what this writer can describe.  Although to set an image of the landscape produced by a war 100 years ago, let me turn to the words of an American mercenary, James McConnell, who would fly for the French in 1916 and describe what he saw over the battlefield of Verdun:

Immediately east and north of Verdun there lies a broad, brown band ... Peaceful fields and farms and villages adorned that landscape a few months ago - when there was no Battle of Verdun. Now there is only that sinister brown belt, a strip of murdered Nature. It seems to belong to another world. Every sign of humanity has been swept away. The woods and roads have vanished like chalk wiped from a blackboard; of the villages nothing remains but gray smears where stone walls have tumbled together... On the brown band the indentations are so closely interlocked that they blend into a confused mass of troubled earth. Of the trenches only broken, half-obliterated links are visible.

Alexis Helmer

From August of 1914 until November 11, 1918, this described the battle fields of the Great War.  Accounts tell us that, in contrast to the cold of war, the weather in Belgian Flanders was unusually warm in 1915.  Locals, still needing to make a living, would plant their fields early that spring, some up to near the lines of battle.  The red field poppy would grow at the edges of grain fields.  While the plant is an annual, it will reseed itself for the next year and bloom once again from seed in earth disturbed.  Ground disturbed on the field of battle would see poppy seeds germinate, grow and flower.  It was the view of these flowers in 1915 which would catch the attention of John McCrae.

Accounts vary on where McCrae wrote the poem that has come to represent a war  One has it being on the rear step of an ambulance, another after the burial of his comrade Alexis Helmer, and another account, by his commanding officer, had him writing it between arrivals of groups of injured soldiers.  We do know that he wrote it in early May 1915 near Ypres, by what is termed the Ypres Salient, a portion of the line that bulged into German lines leaving this section surrounded on three sides.  Helmer was killed on May 2, a Sunday morning, by a German mortar which tore his body apart.  He was buried later that night.  As the brigade chaplain was away attending to other duties, Helmer's graveside burial, at least of those body parts able to be collected, was conducted by John McCrae.  It is reported that he conducted a simple service using part of the Church of England’s “Order of Burial for the Dead.”  Helmer had a simple wooden cross to mark a now long lost grave in the Ypres Salient. 

Dr John McCrae

While a Canadian man may have written the poem in Belgium, it was an American women, in New York, who would popularize the use of the poppy as a remembrance of those that died.  She came across the poem, two days before the Armistice, in an issue of “Ladies Home Journal” while between work at Hamilton Hall where she tended to needs of service men coming and going from the Western front.    The poem in that issue was titled “We Shall not Sleep” an alternative name to “In Flanders Fields.”  She would decide then to wear a poppy to remember those who had given their all in the war to end all wars.  But, she would also search part of New York and eventually find red silk poppies that she would give to attendees of a war conference at Hamilton Hall.  To Moina Michael, the poppy was more than a symbol or recalling the dead of the war.  She viewed it as a symbol of optimism.  The war had ended and peace had now come over a war weary world.   Maybe it was presaging the shift of power for the old world to the new, but it is interesting that a war in Europe has a symbol set forth in a poem by a Canadian, with the symbol popularized by an American.

Battlefield of the Great War (World War I)

One symbol of old Europe would be the Tower of London.  A prison and symbol of terror in its own right,  it housed and saw the executions of Thomas More and others.   But, this fall it has its moat (August until November 11) filled with ceramic red poppies.  It displays one red poppy for each of the 888,246 persons from the British Empire, like Alexis Helmer, who had perished in the Great War.  It is a remarkable and haunting reminder of the human cost of war.  The poppy, while having a red color that reminds us of the blood that is shed in times of war and police actions, is also a symbol of hope-- that from fields thought barren due to battle new life can arise.  Peace can overcome strife. 

Ceramic Poppy display at the Tower of London

On this November 11, our thoughts go to veterans both dead and alive, particularly those who served in the Great War, and our other conflicts. Personally I think of my Dad who served in WWII, and my brother-in-law who served in varied conflicts in the Mid-east and the Balkans.  These conflicts, of course, unfortunately show that the Great War did not lot live up to President Woodrow Wilson’s claim of putting an end to all wars. Interestingly, it was the armistice begun almost a century ago that perhaps did more than any other factor to lead to the rise of a fanatic to take power, leading to a conflict even more costly than the Great War a generation later. Yet, we still look to the poppy to represent those who have been called to serve the nation.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

(poem by John McCrae)

 Photos from Google Images