Happy Thanksgiving, Pilgrim.

I love the holiday season, I understand that being a big, sexy, cool biker like I am that I am supposed to be nonchalant about such nonsense but in point of fact, I have always loved the holiday season and have long before I ever had kids and a family of my own. It’s okay to enjoy them you know, it’s okay to be happy and to share that happiness and it’s certainly okay to go out of your way to make sure that someone else has a nice, happy time as well.

The motorcycle community actually does a fantastic job making other people happy and it shows year ‘round with the commitment to fundraising poker runs and toy runs. I just love the great mood people are always in when it comes to those runs! The dive bars, joints, cafes, dealerships, and bars always welcome bikers to swing by, even for a short period of time because it’s a huge influx of cash money that can help make a weekend or more. The charities love bikers because we step up and buy the hands, pay the entry fees, and grab raffles or make cash donations, if it’s a cause we care about like soldiers, kids, or boobies… bikers, even the big ‘ol mean looking ones, often find a smile and show thankfulness via their, well, cash out lay.

A huge biker show of thanks includes the annual Toy Runs that happen all across the nation and are well represented across the Hawkeye State. Groups like the Salvation Army, Toys for Tots, and many more make so many kids happy around Christmas with the gift of even a small toy, showing them that people care and so many of those toys (and cash) are made possible by bikers. Even those crusty bikers that don’t like the holidays! Look, I have a black oily heart and at times I need to really give myself pause not to just sit back and hate everything. It is something that I really need to work on because I am at the very core of my being, a dick. But I try to be as nice as I can with a smile on my face, laughing along with conversation but my true inner being is that of an asshole and it’s something I have really worked hard on suppressing and with the shit that is going on right now, it’s even more difficult. Now you know why I don’t watch TV or consume much of the entertainment culture, it just fuels my inner rage.

But screw it, no matter what I still find myself super excited about the holiday season! It’s weird I know, but it starts around the time of the year when the daylight escapes, we put the summer toys away, the boats are winterized, the bike is on the tender but still ready to go on those sneaky warm days that pop up so we can get some last minute miles in and beat the sun down because even warm days in the last part of the year do NOT lead to comfortable rides home in the dark. It is hard to focus on deer moving during peak rut when your nerts are shivering in your chaps.

Even Halloween starts my enjoyment of the holiday season and sort of the unofficial kick off of them for me. As a rug rat I dreamed for MONTHS of that night, what town we were planning to hit, the costumes to be considered and come rain, chill, or even snow, dammit, I was out for the long hall. I know my kiddos loved Halloween but I think it was more for the costumes than the candy. When I was a brat, you didn’t have access to candy as much as you do now, hell, I would blow though my stash like a meth-head on a bender, but my kids would have Halloween candy well past Christmas, mainly because they hid it from me but they loved the season. I geeked out about it long before kids, always decorating my place, giving out great treats and just having a ball. When the kiddos where involved, hayrack rides behind the golf cart were a yearly event that were discussed and planned for weeks leading up to the magical night, it feels empty now that they have blown out of the roost, but we still go all out for Halloween, it’s good prep for the next holidays coming up. Before I move on to the more important holidays, can we just acknowledge one thing, Halloween might be the ONLY holiday that once it’s over, it’s over! You move on. You never have a costume party after Halloween, it just doesn’t work.

My single favorite holiday that is NOT The 4th of July is Thanksgiving Day and it’s not even close. Mostly because it’s a holiday that you can legit say “Happy Thanksgiving” to anyone and not be worried about some politically correct bullshit. Worried about offending anyone on being thankful? Bite me, be thankful you are in America and get the best day to get together with family and just embrace the wonderment that is the bounty in which we have been blessed with. Thanksgiving rocks because nobody cares or even bats and eye if you’re day drinking. Family over? Start with Bloody Mary’s or Mimosa’s. Late morning, open a bottle of wine, crack a beer while the turkey is finishing up and football is kicking off. It’s one of the easiest meals to make and people stress over it. No, they stress because you have a mother in law telling you her way of doing it, ignore her, have another glass and go back to being happy. Making a turkey is foolproof. Gravy? Super easy, that garbage green bean casserole, buns, a ham, I mean come on, none of this is haute cuisine and hell a couple of YouTube videos and you are rocking.

Quick clarification, Yea, I said it and I stand by it…green bean casserole is hot garbage. If it’s so damn good, why do we never serve any other time of the year? Nobody chimes in for the Memorial Day BBQ and say’s “Hey, I will bring the green bean casserole” because if they didn’t you would kindly un-invite them, why? Because that is trash food. Heck, green beans are barely edible FOOD and somehow they transform into a delicacy when you add cheese, fried onions and cream of mushroom soup? Get the hell out of here with that crap. Sure the food is the centerpiece for Thanksgiving but it is about reflecting, about sitting back and saying, “shit, we’ve got it good” and finding the good where you can because it’s important to look at the positive and work to fix the negative. Be happy with what you have and those around you. Be grateful to have those around the table that you do, even that mother in law, because you never know if this is going to be the last time it happens. That is why I just love the holiday and it takes on more meaning since my kiddos are spread all over the place between the military and college. I don’t get them home much together, but when I do I don’t take it for granted.

I have thought about how a riding article and Thanksgiving really have anything in common but to me it’s like this. I feel the Pilgrims in many ways represent what bikers are. We don’t really conform to the rules of our overlords, we really want to be left to our own ways of doing things and they had a bit of outlaw streak to them. And any good biker appreciates a Scarlet Letter now and again.

Bring on the holidays brothers and sisters it’s a joyous time of the year and thank you for being you and all that you have done, celebrate, be thankful and let’s get together and hangout. Just don’t bring any of that icky casserole around.

Todd “Crash” Davis