"265 million: The preliminary estimate of turkeys raised in the United States in 2006. That's up 3 percent from 2005. The turkeys produced in 2005 together weighed 7.2 billion pounds and were valued at $3.2 billion.

...664 million pounds: The forecast for U.S. cranberry production in 2006, up 6 percent from 2005. Wisconsin is expected to lead all states in the production of cranberries, with 375 million pounds, followed by Massachusetts (175 million). New Jersey, Oregon and Washington are also expected to have substantial production, ranging from 16 million to 49 million pounds."

"Ah! on Thanksgiving day, when from East and from West,
From North and from South, come the pilgrim and guest,
When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board
The old broken links of affection restored,
When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,
And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before.
What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?

Find a young man or young woman happy with life and you've likely found someone who grew up in an intact two-parent family. The relationship between young adults' happiness and the type of family that reared them receives attention in a study recently published in Psychological Reports by psychologist Kevin Marjoribanks.

Examining data collected from an Australian national probability sample in 2000 (3,580 men and 3,991 women with an average age of 20.2 years), Marjoribanks finds that on a 14-item survey, young men and women reared in two-parent families are significantly more likely to express greater happiness than peers reared in one-parent families. Because the differences in the reported levels of happiness are not very large, Marjoribanks highlights as "meaningful" only the largest two differences for women (happiness in contemplating their future and happiness with their standard of living) and the three largest differences for men (happiness with where they live, happiness with their standard of living, and happiness with the way the country is being run).

Still, Marjoribanks acknowledges that ten other differences in happiness scores for women and eight other differences in happiness scores for men-all "statistically significant," though relatively small-favor those reared in two-parent families over peers reared in single-parent homes. And even if it is not large, one of the psychological advantages enjoyed by young men and young women who have grown up in two-parent families encompasses a great deal. Compared to peers reared in single-parent families, young men and young women from two-parent homes are significantly more likely to say they are happy with "life as a whole."