The House of Representatives is nearing a vote on a proposal to declare Bell's Seasoning our official state seasoning.

If the House has a taste for the sage proposal, by seasoned state Rep. James Murphy (D-Weymouth), it would go to the Senate, where it could then shake out as a bill for the governor to take the measure of.

Murphy's bill reads in its entirety:

The people at the front of the line outside the Walpole Walmart around 11 p.m. were in no mood to talk about when they got there or what they were going to buy or do much of anything besides huddling inside their cocoons.

There was a similar scene outside the Dedham Best Buy, although the overall line there was a lot shorter.

Andy Metzger points us to Chapter 2, Sect. 7 of the Massachusetts General Laws, which decrees a $50 fine for picking mayflowers - $100 for picking them while in disguise or at night.

Massachusetts, of course, has a longer history with Thanksgiving than any other state, you know, the Pilgrims and all. In the early days, the date of an annual day of giving thanks wasn't fixed, but it did involve both public prayers, giving the servants the day off so that they, too, could attend church - and join in fasting.

In 1952, Bostonians could still buy fresh-killed turkeys at Quincy Market.

From the BPL Leslie Jones collection. Posted under this Creative Commons license.

The Herald reports the state could grant a waiver, but won't.

The kids at Kehillah Schechter Academy, the closest Jewish day school to Plymouth Rock, remind us that the once-in-a-lifetime confluence of Thanksgiving and Channukah is nigh.

Via Thanksgivukkah Boston.

I wrote this love letter to Boston and, since I lack my own blog these days, I'm thankful for this platform to share it with a wider audience. Thanks, Adam!

In thinking about what I'm most thankful for this year, aside from the usual family, friends, health, and good fortune (not to diminish the importance of those), I was overwhelmed remembering all the people and experiences that helped shape 2012 into one of the best years of my life, when it could easily have been counted among the worst. I could sit for hours talking about each one and still not get them all. Then I realized it all keeps coming back to one thing: this city.

Boston, I am thankful for you living up to every expectation and ideal I had of you from when I was a little girl and dreamed of living in you when I grew up. I am thankful for your varied neighborhoods, your suburbs, your parks, your streets, your rollercoaster weather patterns, your tourist traps, your hidden gems, and your breathtaking scenery. I'm thankful for your weird laws and character of a mayor and even your maddening transit system. I'm thankful for your "freedom trail" (read: bars). The TV doesn't lie. Everyone really DOES know your name sometimes.

Bostonography presents seasonal maps of the region.