It's a rainy Thanksgiving here on the Outer Banks, but that's ok—we need the rain.
The holiday, especially on the Outer Banks has in so many way become what it was originally meant to be—a time for family and friends to gather and give thanks for those moment when we can spend some time together.
Those of us who live here have the turkey or ham or whatever the dinner is going to be in our ovens and relatives we haven't seen for a while are sitting around sharing memories. It is not only the residents, though. Thanksgiving week has become a special time for many or our property owners and a lot of our visitors take the long weekend as a chance to bring family together in a favorite location.
In the sense that Thanksgiving is a time for family, it's probably much like many other places in the United States with brothers, uncles and cousins coming for three or four days to reestablish the bonds of family and to recall that the very things that mark us as different are also the very things that bind us together.
Of course, all those other places, wherever they may be, don't have the advantage of picture perfect settings in one of the most beautiful places on earth...but regardless of the location, Thanksgiving has a way of bringing us together.
It's an important message; something that bears recalling.
When Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the first national day of thanksgiving in 1863 the Civil War was still raging, yet he began his proclamation with words of gratitude. "The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies," he wrote.
Words to recall as we sit down to Thanksgiving dinner in the year 2016.
