Autumn in the Country, or Where did Thanksgiving Go?

I love Thanksgiving.  Who doesn't? I can ask lots of different folks all the time which holiday do they like the best and you know what they say?

THANKSGIVING!!

I know why.  First, it's the food.  And quite frankly (I'm shining my nails on my lapel) I am a  pretty good cook, so I know why everyone wants to have Thanksgiving.  But besides that, what is it? It's the non-commercialization of the holiday, right? I was in the local Hallmark store last night.  We had just gone to the annual Parade of Trees (which in my personal opinion this early in November is waaayyyyy too early for that).  In this Hallmark store, it was decked out in Christmas, and finally I found one little tiny shelf with a few knick knack pumpkins and "Blessings" type wall hangings.  One little tiny shelf! Almost like an after thought.

People love Thanksgiving! They love fall colors, football games and that corny Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!  Retailers, don't take it away from us!! Let us bask in the fallen leaves, the colorful pumpkin and turkey drawings the little ones make, and let's see some good old pilgrim plays (do schools even do that anymore?)

I think back in my day, Thanksgiving was a much bigger deal. I remember making Indian vests out of big brown paper bags from the grocers, and putting shaved crayons in between wax paper and using an iron to melt the wax, thus creating autumn leaves.  My husband tried to do this one day awhile back and my iron has never been the same since.

When my brothers and I were little, we had an aunt and uncle that used to put their Christmas tree up on Thanksgiving Eve.  We were horrified at the thought.  I still remember reading stories about families who put up their Christmas tree on the night of Christmas Eve, and the next day the family would come running down the stairs to see it lit up for the first time.

Christmas does come early now in the Burns home.  I am married to an absolute Christmas fanatic, who if he had his way, would be listening to Christmas music before Halloween.  Our outdoor lights are up, but only because I, the analytical and albeit lazy one, decided that I wanted to do it while the weather was warm, so I put them up one day when it was 70 degrees outside.

We still need to get our tree.  I caught my husband eyeing the nice blue spruce outside in the yard today.