Monday, November 06, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving
You know how they say that Thanksgiving is getting more and more overshadowed by the holidays on either side of it, Halloween and Christmas?
That it's just an excuse to leave your pumpkins out, and a kickoff to Christmas?

Kinda makes sense in a way. It's not that we mean to leave it out, it just happens. I mean, just look at the score card.

Thanksgiving doesn't have the Great Pumpkin or Santa, to bring us presents.

Thanksgiving doesn't have pirate costumes or cute little elves.

Thanksgiving does have pilgrims and our own family members, two groups who for many of us represent a pretty mixed bag of virtues, ranging from from offensive to old-fashioned.

To my knowledge there are no Thanksgiving songs.

Thanksgiving does has food, and who doesn't love that? But lets face it, most of us aren't one bad harvest from starvation. Most of us have the opposite problem. So the meaning isn't quite the same.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Halloween and Christmas are wrong in any way. They each have a meaning and a magic all their own.
But Thanksgiving is a subtle holiday. The only way to show that you are celebrating it is to have an attitude of gratitude. It's actually somewhat difficult to find ways to show that attitude, and it's not always easy to spot.
And so in the spirit of the season, each day until Thanksgiving, I will list one thing that I'm grateful for.
Feel free to join me.

Today I'm grateful for webcams, and the feeling that my Ikey is sitting right in front of me as he reads me a story from his dream journal.




4 Comments:

Blogger MonkeyGurrrrrl said...

Could it also be that because it has become a symbol of oppression and racism, people are not so quick to celebrate it? http://www.pilgrimhall.org/daymourn.htm

Blogger Valancy Jane said...

Like I said, many of us can't get behind everything the pilgrims stood for, but Thanksgiving wasn't about their political agenda, it was about gratitude, something we can all celebrate. Don't throw the baby out with the racist bathwater.

Blogger Minoa said...

Thanksgiving is the red-headed middle step-child of holidays.

But at least it has memorable Friends episodes. :)

Blogger Valancy Jane said...

That's true, Colsy.

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