Bring Back the Seasons. . .

I went through Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam) on Nov. 12. The place had a distinctive Christmas feel. Garlands, trees and ornaments decorated the ceilings and walls. Back in the States, grocery stores had replaced bags of candy corn with red and green M&Ms . . . .


Thanksgiving has never had the commercial appeal of Halloween and certainly cannot compete with Christmas. Increasingly, Thanksgiving has been rebranded by media and merchants as the eve of Black Friday!

“Black Friday Madness Sweeps Across the Country” – NPR

“Black Friday Shoppers Fan Out in the Night” – New York Times

“Earlier Black Friday Openings Draw Crowds” – Wall Street Journal

With these headlines and images of people waiting in long lines, the rest of us undergo a guilt trip. Everyone is out shopping. Maybe we should be too.

Thanksgiving has been holiday of intense travel so people could spend time with families. But merchants are trying to ensure 100 percent participation. That even the Occupy groups give up their protest for 24 hours.

The new opening hours (some at 9 p.m. Thanksgiving evening) enable people can get up from the family dinner, wave bye to all the aunts and uncles they haven’t seen for the past year and now travel to the shopping center to join the lines forming for that flat-screen TV or Blu-Ray Player.

This year, Black Friday started on what has been traditionally known as Thanksgiving Thursday. For those who missed out on this event, Cyber Monday is starting early too. . . .

Thanksgiving Magic by Jane Tolbert

From a child’s perspective, Thanksgiving is magical. It is that last school holiday before Christmas and often a time to see distant cousins and grandparents. While the adults endure copious meals, usually the children can be quickly excused only to reappear at dessert. At least, that is how our family dinners proceeded. During the lengthy part of the meal and clearing the table, we played in our tree fort or under the dining table, where, hidden by the lace tablecloth, we raced our toy horses and cars up and down the borders of an oriental rug. I am sure most of the adults would have liked to have joined us.

When we moved from Northern Virginia to Florida, we tried to capture the magic of those northern Virginia Thanksgivings with family and friends. Years passed before we fell into another tradition. Our Swedish neighbors introduced us to new culinary delights and lively conversation that touched on quantum theory, philosophy, sales at TJ Maxx or human nature. These meals were always followed by a walk around Lake Alice and then the new Disney movie. But after many years, they returned to Uppsala, and a Franco-Scottish couple, who had become part of the tradition also moved away.

Most recently, our Thanksgiving holidays have centered on outside activities like bike rides or walks in a nature preserve. When I was still teaching, my students said they envied my Thanksgivings. Theirs involved frantic travel to a distant city, worry about final semester projects due on their return to campus and too much food and too many family arguments. They wondered about a formula to capture the magic of Thanksgiving.

This year I hesitated to plan festivities for Thanksgiving with the recession and the fact that everyone with a day job or commute would be thankful for a day to . . . well, “chill.” But some of our Swedish friends will be back. And maybe we can convince our Franco-Scottish friends to join us also. The meal itself is secondary. We are very fortunate to have such wonderful friends. And that is the true magic.

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