In the Spirit of the Season

Mrs. Dianna Hofmanner's first grade class at Edgewood Elementary School, with Stacey Foster classroom assistant on the right and the children and their turkeys in the middle. 

 

If you don't remember doing things like this as a kid, you should.

And at the very least, you should remember those your own children made and brought home which are now worn and torn but which you probably don't quite have the heart to throw away.

Personally, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because its about getting together to eat (and drink!) and be merry instead of about buying stuff.

Don't get me wrong.

I love Christmas.

I love the decorations.

I love the Christmas cards (yes some of you are on my list).

And I particularly love the music, the inescapable spirit of fellowship and "goodwill towards men" and sense of wonder it evokes.

And hey, who doesn't like watching their kid(s) tear through a pile of swag under the tree?

But the buying of the swag, the detailing of the proper swag and, most particularly, the ever-present, incessant, non-stop, creeping, ever-expanding, insidious MARKETING of the swag is a burden no unwilling soul should have to bear.

So, me? Here's a Pilgrim's hat's off to Turkey!

(Having recently finished and enjoyed Sarah Vowell's most excellent revelatory book on what the Pilgrims and Puritans REALLY did and believed, titled "The Wordy Shipmates," I will nevertheless spare you all the rant and let sleeping turkeys lie so we can all have some peace at the table.)

Instead, I'll lift a glass and toast you all. Here's hoping you have something to be thankful for.