14 October 2024 – The second Monday in October and here we are: it is Thanksgiving.

Indigenous peoples have long honoured nature’s bounty; in 1578 Sir Martin Frobisher and crew celebrated their safe arrival in eastern Arctic waters (now Nunavut) with salt beef, biscuits & mushy peas; in 1606 Samuel de Champlain founded the Ordre de Bon Temps (Order of Good Cheer) to encourage settlers in New France (feasting and musketry volleys); in the 1750s what we now view as the traditional fare — turkey, squash, pumpkin — became common in Nova Scotia. Our Thanksgiving celebrations have gone on from there — finally, officially, settling on the second Monday in October by a 1957 Act of Parliament.

Back to 2024. Yesterday was the last Farmers’ Market of the season in Dude Chilling Park. By the time I arrive, late in the day, a lot of the produce has been snapped up. My own purchases are non-trad: a bag of pierogis and a jar of Malvani simmering sauce, both made by descendants of immigrants who brought these recipes with them. Traditional fare is still available as well, albeit in depleted quantities.

Tomatoes, for example…

squash…

and even squash that needs an explanation.

This Thanksgiving morning I visit our wonderful rooftop garden. I’m eager to see how much the pumpkins have grown since I photographed one of them during our Garden Party up there on 9 September.

Here’s what I saw then.

Here’s what I see this morning.

What did I expect?

Of course everything has been harvested, clipped, tidied away!

Fortunately…

we can always be thankful for the view.