Thanksgiving Comes First

Rounding the corner at the store, I saw what I dread to see. Christmas decorations. Already.

In the check out line, a lady commented to her friend on it. "Can you believe they have Christmas items out already!"

Her friend commiserated with her on it, and I chimed in, "Yes, I understand most stores only place one big Christmas order early, and they have to try to guess what and how much they will sell, but it is getting ridiculous that they put it out so early."

Indeed, so it is. It seems that because one store pulls the Christmas items out early, the others feel they cannot risk losing one sale because of it, so they all have to jump on the bandwagon.

My way of dealing with this, for many years, has been to simply ignore all signs of Christmas until Santa reaches 34th Street in the Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade. That way, the holidays are separate, each having its own time and space.

There is something sacred to me about taking time to give thanks. That is why I get so grumpy about the intrusion of Christmas, not the religious celebration of salvation, but the commercial, silly side, on time that should be set aside for counting our blessings. It seems now the only blessings some people want us to count is how much stuff we can campaign to get for the next holiday, and they want to give us more time in which to do it.

I have had enough of it, and I will continue to ignore all signs of Christmas until the proper time. Yes, there is something to be said for getting a few gifts throughout the year early so it isn't all crammed into a few short days. Those are planned purchases, though, and are not specifically Christmas decor or Christmas items.

Along with Suldog, whose post on this topic, http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com/2010/10/thanksgiving-comes-first.html ,inspired this mini rant, I will bless those who refuse to try to bring Christmas earlier and earlier in the year. He wants anyone who feels this way to also blog about it, as numbers might change this eventually. I hope that he is right, and that someday it will make a difference.



Today is:

All Hallow's Day a/k/a All Saint's Day -- Holy Day of Obligation (Roman Catholic Church. A holiday in Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta (for schools only), Mauritius, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain)

Andhra Prodesh Formation Day -- Andhra Prodesh, India

CrossQuarter Day

Day of the Innocents -- Mexico

Gooseberry Humble's Tummy-Rumbling Contest -- Fairy Calendar

Graveyards Day

Independence Day -- Antigua & Barbuda; North Yemen

Karnataka Formation Day -- Karnataka, India

NaNoWriMo -- National Novel Writer's Month, write one if you have it in you!

National Author's Day

National Day -- Algeria

National Family Literacy Day -- turn off the tv, pick up a good book!

National French Fried Clam Day

Old Celtic New Year

Padre Cicero Day -- Brazil

Recreation Day -- Tasmania

Samhain -- Celtic, 3rd Station, and Wicca, Northern Hemisphere (Beltane in the Southern Hemisphere)

World Vegan Day



Birthdays Today:

Fernando Valenzuela, 1960
Lyle Lovett, 1957
Dan Peek, 1951
Larry Flynt, 1942
Gary Player, 1935
Stephen Crane, 1871


Today in History:

The name "Austria" is first used for Ostarrichin, 996
King John of England begins imprisoning Jews, 1210
The Duke of Brabant orders the execution of all Jews in Brussels, claiming they were poisoning wells, 1349
First exhibit of the works of Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, 1512
The Netherlands is hit by a flood disaster, resulting in the deaths of thousands, 1570
Shakespeare's "Othello" first presented, 1604
Shakespeare's "The Tempest" first presented, 1611
An earthquake in Lisbon leaves over 50,000 dead, 1755
The Stamp Act goes into effect in the British colonies, 1765
George Washington gives his "Farewell Address" and the Continental Army is dissolved, 1783
John Adams becomes the first Us president to move into the (still not quite finished) White House, 1800*
*Note: It was still called the Executive Mansion at this time
The first published reference to poker, as a Mississippi riverboat game, 1834
The Cape Lookout, North Carolina, lighthouse, which is still in use, is lit for the first time; its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for 19 miles in good conditions, 1859
Passage of the first US Civil Rights Bill, 1866
First publication of "Harpers Bazaar", 1867
The US Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) begins operations, with 24 locations, 1870
Edward Scripps and John Sweeney found Penny Press (now the Cleveland Press), 1878
The Gaelic Athletic Association is founded at the Hayes' Hotel in Thurles, County Tipperary, 1884
Dr. Roux of Paris introduces a vaccine for diphtheria, 1894
Nicholas II becomes the new Tsar of Russia, 1894
The National Geographic Magazine publishes its first picture of bare breasted women (from a Zulu tribe), 1896
The first Library of Congress building opened its doors to the public, 1897
Sigma Phi Epsilon, the largest national male college fraternity in the US, is established at Richmond College, 1901
Parris Island becomes the officially designated Marine Corps Recruit Depot, 1915
The Ottoman Empire is officially abolished, 1922
Seabiscuit defeats War Admiral in an upset victory during a match race deemed "the match of the century" in horse racing, 1938
The first animal conceived by artificial insemination, a rabbit, is displayed, 1939
American photographer Ansel Adams takes a picture of a moonrise over the town of Hernandez, New Mexico that would become one of the most famous images in the history of photography, 1941
The first issue of Ebony Magazine is published, by John H. Johnson, 1945
Charles Cooper of the Celtics becomes the first black NBA player, 1950
The first hydrogen nuclear device is exploded, by the US, at Eniwetok Atoll, 1952
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante wears a protective mask for the first time in an NHL game, 1959
The Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, with the largest radio telescope ever constructed, officially opens, 1963
The Motion Picture Association of America's film rating system is officially introduced, originating with the ratings G, M, R, and X, 1968
Serbia joins the United Nations, 2000
First part of the Gomery Report, which discusses allegations of political money manipulation by members of the Liberal Party of Canada, is released in Canada. 2005