Thanksgiving Comes First

I have joined the crusade to remind folks of the order of the holidays, post-Labor Day as it were.

Fellow crusaders are my old pal Buck of Exile in Portales fame and a new addition to "Stuff I Like to Read" who we refer to 'round these parts as Suldog. Kinda like a Brazilian soccer star. Just. One. Name. Though Suldog is way funnier than a Brazilian soccer star.

Not that I personally know all that many Brazilian soccer stars. Perhaps they really are hysterically funny guys. But I digress.

Yes, after Labor Day, you have, IN THE EXACT ORDER SHOWN:

Columbus Day,

Halloween,

THANKSGIVING,

and Christmas.

Now you might be wondering at this point, "What strange brew has the Old AF Sarge been dipping into?"

Nothing, I am completely sober.

The point is that in many retail establishments, the Christmas stuff starts coming out shortly after Halloween. Yup, you spend your hard-earned money on all that Halloween candy and spooky decorations, then it's time to start getting ready to spend all your dough to celebrate Christmas.

Whoa, stop the presses!

What gives? What about Thanksgiving? A sublime and wonderful holiday where family and friends get together to enjoy a sumptuous repast and give thanks for all they have. (Oh yeah, and watch football, lots of football.)

Thanksgiving was always one of my favorite holidays. Of course, growing up in New England where I did was (in my memory) like being in a Norman Rockwell painting. Especially around Thanksgiving. Here's a perfect example of how I remember Thanksgiving growing up:

Freedom from Want
Norman Rockwell

My paternal grandparents dressed pretty much like the older couple serving the turkey. (In fact I do believe my dear old Gram had that same dress! And Gramp was a bit thinner than the chap in the painting.)

My memories of Thanksgiving are special and will always remain so. But what's up with these here United States these days?

It seems to me that Progressive Elements in our society have been working doggedly for years to destroy our uniquely American way of life.

(Now don't get yourselves in an uproar. I'm not saying that the American way is the best way of all. I'm just saying it works for me and for most other Americans. To me, it is the best way. Of course if I'd been born in Uzbekistan or some such place, I'd probably think that was pretty good. YMMV. Just sayin')

When I was a wee lad, school started with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. Worked for me. Then at some point in time you had these "people" raising a ruckus about school prayer. (I don't think they even do the Pledge anymore.)

Hello! "Separation of Church and State" does not exist in the Constitution. The intent was to prevent the government from deciding what religion everyone should have and then shoving it down our collective throats. That's what the Constitution intends. I don't care what some hi-falutin' asswipe "Constitutional Scholar" thinks. I can read. And the Constitution is written in English. A fairly archaic form of English I'll grant you. But I have no trouble with it at all. (Of course in my day we also had to study Shakespeare, which is an even older form of English.)

Again, I digress.

Thanksgiving should be an important holiday in its own right. Most cultures have a Thanksgiving-like holiday in the fall. Normally it's to celebrate getting the harvest in and being thankful for that. I know it's celebrated in Canada (different date though - of course Canada, being farther north they'd have to get that harvest in earlier than we here in the USA. So makes sense that their Thanksgiving would be earlier).

It's also celebrated in Korea, where it's known as Chuseok (추석). As in the US, it's a time for family to come together and enjoy a special meal. (Chuseok is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Lunar calendar. So the actual date moves around from year to year. But again, it's a harvest festival.) I'm sure there are others but being American, married to a Korean and living next door to Canada, those are the ones I know about. (Have I mentioned that my paternal great-grandfather was born in Canada? Trois Rivières, to be precise.)

So that's my spiel regarding the crusade to remind folks that Thanksgiving Comes First.

Let's keep all of our holidays special and not let the Progressive Elements, retail types and such spoil them. For that is precisely what those Progressive Elements want. To destroy our way of life. So be on your guard and foil the nasty Socialists by remembering:

Thanksgiving Comes First!