We wanted to hop on here to wish you a Happy (Socially Distanced) Thanksgiving since it’s TOMORROW-!! With this blog we wanted to share with you our vintage Thanksgiving decorations that bring us joy daily (as we did with our Easter decor and Halloween decor this weird, painful, stressful, and sometimes lonely Pandemic year).
We just wanted to say personally and professionally how THANKFUL we are for our clients who took the love and responsibility to reschedule their weddings 3 times (each) to later in 2021 to keep their, our, and other communities, loved ones, and workers SAFE, alive, and not causing more devastation during this Pandemic year AND for all of our 2020 clients at large who literally gave us faith in humankind and kept us afloat. Our clients were a shining beacon more than ever this year. They and a few immediate family members (who sent gifts in the most stressful of times) were what brought us back to the good in humanity when times seemed dark as corporations, politicians, and community members & some family/ friends literally profited from a Pandemic, lied, manipulated, wouldn’t do the simple task of distancing and wearing masks and refraining from parties, etc. In these sometimes extremely hurtful times we focus on the people doing GOOD and being CONSISTENTLY loving in their ACTIONS.
A GREAT thing that you can do THIS Thanksgiving & holiday season (likely including Christmas) is show true love by not gathering with your regular Thanksgiving family group or Friendskiving friends. Love is an action word and actions speak MUCH louder than your words, your religion, your finances, and your prayers ever could. More than ever we need teamwork and NOT a privileged attitude. Let your actions of having a small Thanksgiving at home with your household exude the love you have for your community, medical workers, friends, loved ones, essential workers, and more.
A lot of us are hurting this year, but we must focus on what WE can do to be BETTER people to our world, our community, those who work in hospitals/ the medical field, and more. This is clearly the year for difficult conversations and changes, but most things that bring progress are difficult.
This year has been an odd one, but you can also think about things during the year that have been enjoyable and ways that you’ve grown. We planted 2 huge new perennial gardens in the Spring, expanded (doubled or tripled) the size of our food garden, had the most loyal client-friends, and raised our new puppy. We stayed financially stable thanks mainly to our clients. We completely refrained from malls, restaurants, seeing extended family, seeing friends, going ANYWHERE without a mask, indoor movies, etc. and instead grew in our maturity opting for family time with our pets, plants, movies, and growing our business.
We’re thankful for many foods and plants that the Natives of our nation cultivated. We ABSOLUTELY love that our Google Calendar has changed tomorrow to Indigenous Peoples Day because we personally feel MUCH more connected to gardening, cultivating foods, keeping indigenous plants in the ground, respecting nature, being thankful for the natural food that we eat, loving animals and connecting with them, and more… rather than the Pillage mindset that Pilgrims often had. Out of the many groups of people that we’ve normally talked to throughout our years here in the Midwest, we always gravitate toward our local Indigenous peoples because they have a deep respect and wisdom of our natural world and we connect on so many levels with their morals, beliefs, and more.
This year is a huge year of reflection what with events, travel, family times, and so much being completely cancelled (for great reason), so please this year reflect on how you’ve treated our world this year as well as how you’ve treated medical workers, small business owners (ACTUAL small businesses- run by 2 to 5 people- not 100 to 500 workers), postal workers, and those having to go up against some of the hardest times of their careers/ lives. Have you made their lives worse or better…? Have you made our world at large worse or better…? Think about what you could do better by reflecting on those who you personally know that are putting in the WORK, dedication, and love that is so needed in the world right now.
We hope that your Thanksgiving is filled with love (shown in your actions), healthy love for your body, some good food (whether that be vegan or fully turkey filled), reflection, relaxation, and a deep appreciation for your Indigenous community here in our nation where they are the ORIGINAL cultivators and owners of these lands.
**Last of all, we’re thankful for you. Thank you for taking time to read our blogs and check our photos. We very much appreciate it since it often takes us a good while to put it all together just for you :)