Reflections on a fine Turkey Celebration

I was thinking, and still am about Thanksgiving. First I pondered about Tryptophan sets off a chemical chain reaction that calms you down and makes you sleepy.

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Then the forked furcula bone is popularly called the wishbone or Merrythought-the latter being the much older term-named after the custom, which has incorporated it since at least the 17th century. The custom is first described by John Aubrey in 1686, although the word 'Merrythought' appears in earlier 17th-century contexts.

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That just got me to Turkey is short for "turkey-cock" or "turkey-hen," originally the name for the African guinea fowl, and eventually for the Western hemisphere fowl with which the earlier bird was confused. This large gallinaceous bird was found domesticated in Mexico at the discovery of that country in 1518, and was soon introduced into Europe. Two sub-species or species of this were found wild - including the Northern wild turkey, a native of the eastern half of the continent, from Canada and the Missouri region to Texas. The wild original of the domestic fowl of North America was described in print in 1613 by the Pilgrims. When Europeans arrived in America, they noticed similarities between the guinea fowl and the American bird and called the latter turkey. Drintling refers to turkeys' clucking noises and the wishbone of a turkey used to be called the merrythought.

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THEN: I looked this up and found: An old custom in many families is to make a wish on the wishbone. The turkey breastbone is cleaned and two people get a chance to make a wish by snapping the dried bone with each one pulling on an end. The person with the larger end of the bone gets the wish — and that’s how we got the phrase, a “lucky break.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In all customs having to do with wishbones, it is taboo to put a finger on the head of the bone to give you a better grip. The person thus applying unfair leverage invalidates any wish he or she would make. In some areas, the wish automatically transfers to the other person.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another tradition in some places says that the person who gets the shortest piece will be the first to marry.

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Then this TOPPED it all when I started thinking about Football. The wishbone formation, also known simply as the ’bone, is an offensive formation in American football. The style of attack to which it gives rise is known as the wishbone offense.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While the record books commonly refer to Emory Bellard developing the invention of the wishbone formation in 1968 as offensive coordinator at Texas, the wishbone's roots can be traced back to the1950s.

But first … Arkansas Upends No. 1 LSU, 50-48, in Three Ots. One whale of a game… But why watch it? By knocking off LSU, which was in first place in the BCS standings, Arkansas boosted the national championship hopes of the Mountaineers and Buckeyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I ran across this piece of interesting information. Golden Boot trophy ~~ Fascinating read.

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The tradition began shortly after Arkansas joined the Southeastern Conference. The Razorbacks were facing different teams -- and both the school and its fans needed to adjust. That effort led to the creation of the Golden Boot, a 24-karat trophy shaped like a map of Arkansas and Louisiana. The Razorbacks will play LSU for it again Friday -- 10 years after it was introduced to this century-old series.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The states share a border -- made the series a good fit for an annual trophy. Also, while other SEC West schools such as Alabama and Auburn and Mississippi and Mississippi State have their in-state rivalries, LSU has always been a bit separate. There is more at: Golden Boot Trophy.

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I bet someone is thinking that this is a lead up to~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ tomorrow Nov. 24 The Big East title will be decided in Morgantown when U Conn visits West Virginia. The winner will secure a BCS bowl bid, while West Virginia still has a shot at the BCS title game. Last year, the Mountaineers hammered the Huskies 37-11. Gooooooooooooooooooo Mountaineers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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PS I am no Football expert… I might however be an aficionado [Etymology:

Spanish, from past participle of aficionar to inspire affection, from afición affection, from Latin affection-, affectio — more at affection

Date: 1802 : a person who likes, knows about, and appreciates a usually fervently pursued interest or activity : devotee ]

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I am still learning but last night when I scoped out this game I began wondering? Perchance a Devotee ~~ YIKES…