Thanksgiving Week

The nice thing about St. Leo: you get a whole week off for that great Thanksgiving holiday. How does one enjoy so much time off? Well...

First, you try let off steam by going to dinner and a movie with friends. I went to Hot Rod's in Lutz near Tampa, and had bat for the first time. Okay, so a lot of people probably think thats gross or too country, But I'll have you know that bat was actually pretty delicious and more tender than chicken. We then were off to the movie theatres, where I knew I would get sucked into watching Beowulf. I enjoyed learing about it in school my senior year, but I must say the movie confused me and I didn't really enjoy the distracting Grendal fight scene or the Jolie sexy mother representation. But, to each his own.

The disappointing part about school being off for a week is that its a perfect opportunity for teachers to give papers and homework, so I had the pleasure of doing that work in between vegging out and shopping (not spending of course, because every college student knows this close to Christmas someone is bound to help buy something for us anyway).

Finally on Wednesday, my family started to load the trailer. We were going camping, which we have been doing on and off for years. This year, we were going to the State Park Lake Griffin, a beautiful lake only marred by recent building of the land and hoards of mosquitos. Our Thanksgiving was rainy, but that didn't stop us from exploring the grounds. We took our two labradors out and looked around the small park area before deciding that a game of cards would be easier to do in the trailer than exploring in the rain.

The next day after the earth was purged by the rain, we went canoeing on the lake. My sister Carly and I were in one canoe, and we ran into some lilies while we tried to remember the physics of steering. After that, we saw some wildlife: two alligators sunning, a turtle, and a few birds. It was very beautiful and rewarding.

Cassie and I standing next to one of the largest oaks in Florida

Kristy and I on our canoe

Thanksgiving is always the time when my family tries to come back together. I think that is why it is my favorite holiday. Christmas tends to be slightly materialistic anywhere you go, but the Thanksgiving week is just about family and good food. I figure this is a good time for people to really see what matters in our lives, the sustenance of not only the foods we eat but the relationships we share with those we love. We get away from work and school and concentrate on what really matters. Some people experience unpleasant times with their relationships during this time, and that is also a reason to decide what is going on in relationships around us.

Well, the end is near, and I have a lot to do before the Christmas vacation.