It is a beautiful time of year. I love the fall. Well, when I lived in New York and we had fall. It's different in Florida. A student here told me a joke. He asked if I knew when autumn came to Florida? I said no. He said it was when the license plates changed colors. ( For those of you who might not understand it's when the snowbirds from out of state drive down.)
But in New York, the air would get crisp. I can still remember the smell coming from the radiators that had been newly painted when the heat first came on. AD*
Halloween would come. We'd collect our candy, play some tricks and that was that.
I don't recall when Halloween started to emulate Christmas. They must have been sneaky, but they did it.
There are now as many decorations for Halloween as there are for Christmas. You can decorate the outside and inside of your house with all kinds of ghoulish delights.
I should know because I have bins of them in the attic from when I had Halloween parties. They are the best to host because you don't have to really cook. AD*
They even have black, Halloween trees. The trees started very small. I bought one because it was so cute. And the ornaments. Adorably cute. And you know how women can't resist the "cute" factor".
Then the trees started to grow. Unfortunately not like in the Nutcracker Suite, where you'd only need one, but they started to make different sizes. And they keep growing. This week I saw some on sale that looked like small black Douglas firs and I'm sure they have huge ones in store for us in the future.
Another Historical Tidbit
During the depression, people were, well really depressed. F.D.R. wanted to lift the people's spirits and the economy so he decided that decorating for Christmas would start right after Thanksgiving in order to put people in better spirits, and hopefully, money spending frames of mind.
I don't know if it worked, but the starting early never ended. Actually, it appears to have stretched like an elastic band in a pair of pants that you might wear to your Thanksgiving dinner.
Back to the present
Slowly, the stores started to move up events. I believe they created this Halloween phenomenon so they could make more money. Or maybe to divert us from the recession, if there is one. I mean really, who needs to decorate this much? I don't live in a store. Not to mention the question of who has the time to do this? You get yourself exhausted from putting things up taking them down and putting them away. Summer doesn't even end and here is all this Halloween crap.
Then, it disappears quickly and on November 1st , Santa is there with all his elves and toys asking you to take them home. I know this for a fact, since I have seen it with my own two eyes. That's because I was shopping yesterday, and the day before and well, okay. I like to shop. *AD
So if you were a little slow on the uptake and forgot to buy a Thanksgiving tablecloth, lady, you are shit out of luck. Unless you buy and save everything you know you will need for every Thanksgiving , you'll just have to wait until next year. Assuming they will still bother to sell Thanksgiving and autumn decorations.
The timing for Thanksgiving really sucks. Ever since Halloween became this big deal and the follow-up for Christmas can't wait until after Thanksgiving, our poor Turkeys get the shaft. Or the spit,oven or the deep fat fryer. You know what I mean.
The most American Holiday, the one that shows our appreciation for all we have as Americans has bee shunted aside by the another American trait. The celebration of greed. Sorry. I seem to get political all the time and it isn't my intent. At least I don't want it to be. I don't even listen to or watch the news so I won't know what's happening in the world because I get SO upset.
So why did they have to invade my one safe haven of retail? AD*
Christmas is another beautiful time of year. I love decorating for Christmas. I have a garage full of items that can attest to that. I also have stuff at the top of my clothes closet. Taking things up and down from the attic was too much of a pain in the legs, arms and back.
As it turns out, this is a good economical arrangement. All year long when I get dressed I eyeball an assortment of decorative things. Like three, three foot Santas. Pillows of Santa and a box of Chanukah items. And this is what I remember off the top of my head. Or from over my head.
Last year the people who owned a really cool store retired and had a great sale that lasted for weeks. I was good, and waited until things got really cheap. It was okay not to have first pick since I didn't need any of the things I bought. So, I also see unopened boxes of Patience Brewster ornaments and I have no idea what.
Actually, opening the things I already own is even better than Christmas morning because I am always surprised by what I have. That should be a clue.
This has given me the strength to walk the aisles of the stores and resist buying ( I pray) more Christmas things since I know that I really don't know what I already have. *AD
WHICH BRINGS ME BACK TO THANKSGIVING
Even though it's been stuck in the middle of two other holidays, I will always be grateful for Thanksgiving. I am thankful for my husband and his family, whom I dearly love. I am thankful for my friends and the light they bring into my life. I am thankful to the family that has taken me in as its own. I am thankful for the teens I have worked with who have shown me that connections made long ago can remain important and solid. I give thanks that I can afford to buy all the things I do.
I am thankful for being quirky. I am thankful for living in a time where I am old enough to be able to enjoy the life I worked so hard for. I am thankful that I can bitch about our country and not be arrested and only get into fights about my beliefs with my friends, who stay my friends anyway.
An so for my theory, I believe that although the other holidays may obscure Thanksgiving, on that day, people still give thanks and the rest of the crap doesn't matter.
Amen
*AD stands for: Another Digression
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| I couldn't find any other decoration pix. That's what I get for thinning out the boxes. |
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| Same here. However, you can tell I take this Holiday seriously. |
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