Thanksgiving Day

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. He must be more than a hundred years old!

We live in Olde Sandwich Towne. That's in Windsor. I know where Windsor is. It's in O Canada.  Windsor is the centre of the known universe and the nicest part of Detroit. I learned that at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. Know what? We can look out the window and see Detroit.



Detroit is next door but it isn't in O Canada. It's in the Knighted States. They are nice neighbours but they have a different boss. Queen Elizabeth is our boss.

She's a very good queen, you know. I'll share my Smarties with her when she comes to our house. We'll climb the sugar maple in the back yard and I'll say, "Your Majesty, hold out your hand and say 'Please' and I'll share my Smarties with you. Oh. Wait! Your Majesty, don't forget to eat the red ones last!" It's a rule, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.  Know what? Chance doesn't have any teeth, yet. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk in a bottle. Chance takes off his diaper and climbs way high on things and then he can't get down. I have to say, "My son! Come down from there this instant!. He makes little squawky noises 'cuz he's scared. I have to help him get down.  He's a handful!

Know what today is? Today is super special 'cuz it's Thanksgiving Day.  We get to eat Thanksgiving dinner. It's a special dinner for a special day. Thanksgiving is everywhere! Juanita and Glen have Thanksgiving in Newfoundland. Margaret and Reid have Thanksgiving in Nova Scotia. Andres has Thanksgiving in Prince Edward Island. Francois and Maria have Jour de l'Action de Grace in Quebec. Elizabeth has Thanksgiving up in Tranna. Lois has Thanksgiving in Alberta, too! Bonnie and Terry have Thanksgiving in British Columbia. We're all thankful. Thanksgiving is everywhere! It's really big! This is the day we are thankful. James says we should be thankful every day. Before we eat James asks us to say what we're thankful for.

Okay. I'm thinking about all the things I can be thankful for. I'm thankful we get to eat pumpkin pie today.I l-o-v-e pumpkin pie. It's yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide. Chance and I helped make the pie. We get to stir. James says I'm the Minister of Stirring. Chance is the Deputy Mini-Stir. We get to lick the spoons. I like to stir things, don't you?

I gotta lotta things to be thankful for. I'm thankful for our family. I'm thankful for James and Chance and Uncle D and Auntie A and Lily and Lulu. Some bear cubs don't have any family at all.  I'm thankful for all my friends and buddies. I'm thankful for porridge and Smarties and gummy worms and all the good foods except broccolis and saurkrauts. I hate them. They're nasty and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide, you know.

I'm thankful for the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre and Miss Jackie who used to be my teacher but she sailed away to Halifax and my new teacher Miss Sephorah. I think Miss Sephorah is a princess.  I'm thankful for my blue bike with the Canada flag on it and my Ninja Turtle toothbrush and my Cat-in-the-Hat sox that make me run faster than anyone. I'm thankful for the sugar maple tree and my space ray gun. That fills up the whole paper. That's a lot of thankful!

 Know what else I'm thankful for? Turkey. We got turkey with stuffing. I l-o-v-e turkey and stuffing. The stuffing has Smarties in it. It's really, really yummy.

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

 This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be thankful today 'cuz it's Thanksgiving Day. Be thankful every day! Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait!  We can eat pumpkin pie, too! Come over to our house and play with us! We can be thankful together! Okay! Over and out!"