A lot of people asked if we celebrated Thanksgiving this year and the answer is "yes", kind of. Obviously Thanksgiving is not observed here so Sam still went to work and the children still went to school, but we did have a turkey dinner complete with cranberries imported from the USA. It was certainly not the same as being at home with family, but we made it work.
It just so happens that one of the bigger English celebrations, Guy Fawkes Day, is celebrated at the beginning of November. The day is to commemorate the day that King James 1 survived an assassination attempt. Long story short November 5, 1605, Guy Fawkes, a participant of the Gunpowder Plot, attempted to blow up Parliament to rid England of the Protestant king and replace him with a Catholic head of state. He was caught guarding barrels of gun powder, captured, questioned, tortured, tried, sentenced and ultimately jumped from the scaffolding from where he was to have been hanged, drawn and quartered (yuck). Because the English don't mess around he was still drawn, quartered and distributed to the four corners of the kingdom.
Like many of our American celebrations it is celebrated today with a lighter tone - many elaborate fireworks displays, massive bonfires (sometimes with an effigy of Guy Fawkes in the middle) and lots of food.
Our house happens to back up to a golf course and they were having a big party to celebrate the day. Not really knowing what to expect we decided to hang back this year and see what was what, but once we saw what was going on the kids and I grabbed our wellies and headed outside.
Here is a what we saw:
Seriously, they do not mess around with this bonfire stuff.
No that is not a rope to keep people away, just something to mark the footpath at the back of the yard!
The fireworks were impressive (and close) and as a finale they set of floating lanterns that were so beautiful in the night sky. The best part is unlike the 4th of July when you have to wait so long for it to get dark, it gets dark at 4:00 PM in November, so all the festivities are over by 8:00 PM. At the end of the day, I'm not sure I would trade my 4th of July apple pie or Thanksgiving turkey dinner, but it is definitely nice to enjoy while we are here.
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