Forgotten Thanks

   If you don't happen to be familiar with the holidays in the U.S., today is a day of thanks, a day when a few early colonists were peacefully gathered long ago with a few native Americans to share a feast; whether true or not and whether it would portend how quickly such unity could disappear, the holiday became etched in American history as Thanksgiving.  Of course, the retailers seem to hate this day as if reflecting the disconnect now hovering in our country, the stores slapping up Halloween displays of candies and costumes then tearing them down as quickly as possible to make way for Christmas.  Thanksgiving?  Other than a few turkey plates and napkins, bah-humbug.  No money to be made there, unless you're selling frozen turkeys.

Graph from The History Channel

   But for the rest of us, the holy-day (with no religious attachment) is one of our special days, a day to be with family or friends or distant relatives, even if that means a long drive or plopping in front of the tellie to watch the annual Macy's parade.  It's a time to call people you've suddenly remembered, those whom you meant to call someday; and it's a day of gathering even if it's only by thought.  For nature, it's a time of beautiful changing colors now resting firmly on the ground, ready to mulch.  Trees are bare and in many areas, the grass is now covered in white.  Nature could care less about Halloween for Thanksgiving is its own reminder that if you're inside and sheltered, if you've prepared for winter and have food, if you're snuggled and ready for the cold, then perhaps you should be thankful.  Thanksgiving thus more traditionally becomes a celebration of getting the last harvest in on time (the actual holiday has quite a history but I particularly liked this portion of the U.S. version when I first read it in Wikipedia, a description that seemed to have more meaning for in the days of Henry VIII, nearly half the year was devoted to Catholic holidays which required that one attend church which usually meant skipping both work and pay; a rebellion followed to reduce that number): The holidays were to be replaced by specially called Days of Fasting or Days of Thanksgiving, in response to events that the Puritans viewed as acts of special providence.  Unexpected disasters or threats of judgement from on high called for Days of Fasting.  Special blessings, viewed as coming from God, called for Days of Thanksgiving.  But as you can see in the graph at the right, the concentration for retailers here in the U.S. is on the day after Thanksgiving, a day termed Black Friday when stores and online merchants drop their prices and try to get consumers to spend (for the retailers, this day becomes an indicator of whether the consumers will spend even more come the Christmas holidays).  And people do stand in long lines and push and shove people out of their way, the half dozen or so bargain televisions being enough to draw hundreds if not thousands of bargain shoppers to a store...or not.  Some are predicting that just as happened in our election, that people are fed up, discouraged at how things have stayed the same, at how the emphasis is on money and little else.  But bear in mind that the same companies predicting this are the ones that were paid to predict the election results (and for the most part got it wrong).

   This holiday overall is being forgotten by the companies and corporations, but perhaps not by the people.  It is still a warm feeling to visit a grandmother or a distant cousin's family, to chat with friends and to eat and eat and eat.  Here in the U.S., it's those rare treats of cranberry relish and pumpkin pies, a glass of spiked egg nog and a turkey (of version thereof, from tofu-turkey to turducken) hot out of the oven.  But it is more a time of being together.  We shouldn't forget that.  Many throughout the world would love to be getting together with others, and especially with family...and whether due to economic circumstances or war or an accident, are now crying instead of celebrating.  But for the rest of us, we should be thankful, thankful for where we are in our lives, thankful that we are still taking a breath and can still laugh and still chew our own food, thankful that we can feel that we will likely live a bit longer and do so relatively safely, thankful that we can still have compassion for those less fortunate.  The mood here in the U.S. seems to be changing, and while the press up-plays the doom coming on the horizon the people seem to just be hunkering down, bracing for whatever might come...but huddling down together.  Perhaps it's not the best for everyone, but it's not the worst.  For the most part, many of us have much to be thankful for...and today is appropriately titled a day just for that, for giving thanks.

Photo from National Geographic