The Ungrateful Demise of Thanksgiving

The Washington Dispatch ^ | November 6, 2003 | Frank Salvato

[old patriot]

I think that it still exists in the "Great-Fly-Over" part of the country out and away from the commercialized cities.

Old Patriot

[Timesink]

Take a look at the lines at the cinemas on this upcoming Thursday and see how many people are not home with their families.

I agree in general with your statement, but keep in mind a lot of people don't have families to be with.

[SamAdams76]

For me, Thanksgiving and Christmas have morphed together into a single holiday season. From Thanksgiving to Christmas (actually to New Year's), it is mostly downtime for me.

Thanksgiving is always a favorite time for me because by then, all the yard work is done, the gutters are cleaned out, the firewood is stacked, the Christmas lights are up and all the other outside stuff is done. Now it's time to sit by the fireplace, as winter settles in outside, and watch the Christmas lights blink while listening to Christmas carols and getting into some good books.

Bowls of nuts are all over the house, eggnog and heavy, dark beers fill the refrigerator. We have turkey in our house all during this time - not just on Thanksgiving Day. Though we do it up extra special on Thanksgiving. And the Christmas music - yes, we play it continously from around Thanksgiving right through Christmas for one extra long holiday.

It's a great time of year. My wife and I never get stressed out at the holidays and we are homebodies. We put plenty of food on the table and everybody is welcome to come and go as they please. We don't worry about rushing here to there. Our Christmas shopping is a few mouseclicks at Amazon. If we do go out, it's to a Barnes & Noble superstore or maybe a Sharper Image or Brookstones. Because those stores are fun for us as well.

I don't think Thanksgiving is a "forgotten" holiday. Maybe it's not as commercialized as Christmas but then, why should it be? For me, the Friday after Thanksgiving is an even better day. For as many rush to the shopping malls, we hang around and munch on cold turkey and sip our wine, while stoking up the fireplace and watching a couple of holiday movies on DVD or maybe get into a good conversation with any company that we have. Thanksgiving weekend is always a lot of fun and I feel like a kid on the first day of summer vacation because at that time, Christmas is still weeks away and I have all those days of the Christmas season yet to look forward to.

[nutmeg]

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