But since when did changing the clocks at the beginning of November also mean changing of the seasons from Halloween to Christmas?
I've heard people talking about it, lately, but I hadn't seen it for myself. Today, though, our newspaper came with Holiday Toy Guides. And, when I went to run errands, there were Christmas decorations all over the place. (Oh, come on, red and green trees? And they want to tell me it's for "Holidays"? Stop trying to be so politically correct and admit to what you're marketing already.)
I heard someone say on TV, today, that we - as Americans - should be proud of Thanksgiving. We're one of only two countries in the world who have a fall celebration like it (the other is Canada - they celebrate it in October). It's a holiday about perseverance and pluck (well... at least if you ignore the fact that pretty much all anyone learns about it is probably a lie).
Thanksgiving is also the one holiday of the year that isn't all about commercialism. There's no push to buy candy or toys. There aren't massive marketing blitzes. The stores don't open at midnight the day after Halloween for the sales.
Instead, Thanksgiving is about getting together with family and friends and celebrating what we have - not what we want. It's the joy of simply being together. Muddling through. Wishing on a wishbone that we'll all be together and happy again in a year.
I can deal with changing the clocks (all 15 of them, if I counted correctly). I can deal with the dog not understanding that I'm supposed to be getting an extra hour of sleep. What I can't deal with is missing out on the one holiday that still seems to truly mean something.
That's a changing of the times up with which I will not put.
(Sorry for they hyper-grammatization of that last line. But it makes me laugh that way. And I needed some levity in my own posting.)
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