November 7 - The Importance of Thanksgiving

Ok, it is November and both Halloween and the changing of the clocks has been checked off the annual list and fast approaching is Thanksgiving.  Now whether you think of Thanksgiving as a religious holiday, a shameful celebration of the conquest of the Native Americans by the colonists, a chance for a few days off from work to spend with family,  an excuse to eat turkey (or tofurkey), an excuse to shop for cheap TV's at 4:30 in the morning, a chance to really reflect on everything you are thankful for, or something else entirely....I have learned that it has another very important function in the US calendar.....Holding Off Christmas.

Although I know that stores have Christmas decorations out in the US, I also know that you will at least hear folks pay lip service to the idea that it is not yet the Christmas Season; with comments like "Did you see that WalMart has it's Christmas trees on sale already, good grief, it is not even Thanksgiving."  I mean, Santa doesn't hit the stores until he rides in at the back of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

So, what happens when there is no Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday of November to carefully mark the start of the Christmas Season?  Total Christmas Chaos.  In Sevilla, the grocery stores took out rows of goods to put in huge bins of Christmas Cookies in early October, Displays of Gift Baskets and Artificial Trees have been up for a couple of weeks, Stores with Toy sections have had their big sales events over the last couple of weeks, and this week a store right down the street from our regular market opened as a full time Christmas store.

I love Christmas music, decorations, special foods and traditions... but I am not ready yet.  I am just getting adjusted to the idea that summer is really over.

I am not sure if gift giving happens here on St. Nicholas Day (December 6), Christmas, or the Epiphany (January 6)... or all three... or none of the above.  Maybe everyone is just getting themselves geared up for the Christmas Lottery on the 21st of December.  Whatever happens, I am looking forward to seeing it all first hand.

In other news, one of my classmates made a purchase from one of the local convents through their turnstile, and she was kind enough to bring a couple to school today for Albert and I to try.

I do not say these words often, but they were too sweet for me.  But I appreciated the chance to try them.