Thanksgiving is a time when Americans enjoy a big meal together, count blessings, watch football and kick off holiday shopping. But what to talk about?

There are only so many pandemic stories to share over the table – especially since they’ve all been posted to Facebook or other social media more than once. Here’s a list of Washingtonish articles you can use as even better conversation starters.

1. People liked getting out of the house this past summer as the first wave of the pandemic – the one not involving the delta variant – eased. To help, Washingtonish published a list of several dozen Things To Do. Use them as thought starters over Thanksgiving for next years outings.
2. Are parents or grandparents aging? Talk about Affordable Housing For Seniors during the traffic jam food jam while some of the dishes are passed left, others go to the right and a few people pass them across the big table, making it difficut to know when you’ve gotten a helping of everything.
3. Maybe there are children at home. It’s only a few months until sign ups open for Washington Youth Baseball. Thanksgiving is good time to relive your glory years of playing baseball, softball, Mario Kart or maybe Frogger.
4. Discuss the return of live arts in between spoonfuls of candied yams – Washington Community Theatre, Little Lake Theatre Company, Old Schoolhouse Players and the Washington Symphony Orchestra.
5. Whose side are you on? A new museum opened in downtown Washington – the Whiskey Rebellion Education And Visitor Center. One of the questions they ask people is whether they’re a friend of order or a friend of liberty. Ask that while pouring more gravy all over everything, and we’re really, really sure the discussion won’t generate a single disagreement.
6. Then there’s all those things you could kick around doing most anytime in the next twelve months (except not on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years or probably Easter). Which of those could all of you enjoy doing together in the year ahead?
7. Reach for that last slice of cranberry sauce and just mention that improving watersheds is good for property values. It could bring renewed interest in the earlier topic about friends of order or friends of liberty.
8. Let whoever at the table owns a mini-van know it will be loaded with people for all the Christmas Events To Enjoy This Holiday Season. A few have passed, but plenty of trolley rides, live performances, model trains, craft shows and specialty shopping remain.
9. Speaking of things to do in the van, when was the last time you drove past the Victorian Houses of East Washington? Generous servings of pumpkin pie on paper plates with dollops of a generic Cool Whip knockoff are the perfect time to discuss how movers and shakers lived 100 years ago.
10. About the time everyone’s halfway into a carb coma, wake everyone up with a discussion of the Spotted Lanternfly damaging the environment and the state’s agricultural industry. The discussion could breathe life into questions about watersheds and property values, and bring the order or liberty people back into play.
11. Dinner’s done. It’s time to walk off those carbs. Start at our list of Places To Walk in Washington County. For those who won’t go for a walk, they can do dishes while you’re out, right?

There you have it – a self-serving list of things to talk about this Thanksgiving dinner that can have everyone in the family looking forward to fun things to do together this holiday season and in the year ahead.