Turkey Trot and Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving to all my blog readers. I’m so thankful for each of you and love the support you have shown me over the last few months. By now we’ve established that I’m in this for the long haul, and I’m thankful so many of you are right up there by me.

Now that we’re through with thanksgiving preliminaries, let me move on to a thanksgiving phenomenon that I’ve remained pretty much oblivious to: the Turkey Trot.

I’m sure they have it in your town, and there’s a pretty good chance you’ve already participated in it this year. Well, good for you, because I, for one, don’t get it.

While most of my own family has dragged themselves out of bed to weather the 20 degree elements, I’m pleasantly watching the frost on the ground while nursing my second cup of coffee. Later on I may get myself enough gumption to drive over to starbucks. While I’m on the topic of Starbucks, can I mention that I have warm and fuzzy thanksgiving feelings towards its owner who understands the value of morning coffee regardless the morning, and the importance of having a place to escape around 2 o’clock in the afternoon when the house has reached its maximum decibels of kid noise.

But I digress from the turkey trot….

It wasn’t there when I grew up. Somewhere in the last decade someone much smarter than I am at making money concocted this idea up, and now thousands if not millions of Americans roll out of bed on thanksgiving morning to put in their obligatory 2 miles in, suddenly becoming healthy. Some are more determined and they’ll actually do the entire 5 mile run giving them even more license to later on eat, and eat, and eat.

The turkey trot is also brilliant from an economical standpoint. While most people can run or walk anywhere in our beautiful and expansive country for free, suddenly there is this sense that unless the walking takes place at the designated start up line with thousands of others equally determined to later eat their minds out, $20 bucks are dished out, for a good cause of course.

Last year a free pecan pie was dished out at the end of the race as an incentive to sign up. Most people who can afford the turkey trot recognized that pie as a second tier food in quality and quickly donated it to charity, making the turkey trot not just an excuse to justify over-eating, but also an easy way to give.

Brilliant, I tell you. For $20 you can get yourself a bit of exercise, even if it’s a meaningless 2 miles in the big scheme of life, you can donate to the poor, and pour into our aching economy. Oh, and I forgot to mention the immense load of family fun and bonding of which I may now be missing out on. I guess I’ll just have to capitalize on the remaining 12 hours of thanksgiving day to make up for it.

I learned a new word this week by John Acuff – a very funny guy I’d tune into if I were you – who writes a blog called Stuffchristianslike.net. He dubbed a new word called “Jesus Juke” where folks suddenly over spiritualize a conversation or context. I mention this because you’re about to be Jesus Juked. Get ready for it.

Most people will get up to bond over a useless 2 mile walk, but have an incredibly hard time keeping an appointment with the Lord.

See how that came out of nowhere? I’m blogging a pretty sarcastic piece on turkey trots, and then bam, you’re Jesus Juked…do you feel guilty yet?

That’s not my intent. I simply am giving you food for thought.

Turkey trot or not, I wish you a happy thanksgiving while I head to another appointment I’m already a little late to.

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