“There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American.” ~ O. Henry
Thanksgiving is here, but where are the decorations? I know it’s not exactly that type of holiday, but there at least use to be the crackle Pilgrim boy and girl. Or the paper-feathered turkey. How about the cornucopia spilling out fruit? I couldn’t find one adornment in any store in the aisles upon aisles of Christmas goods. Do kids even make Thanksgiving decorations, arguably the most American of holidays, in school anymore?
Where has all the celebrating gone?
It’s on the tables, for sure, but consuming seems to have affected this November holiday. Consumed, that is, by Christmas, football, Black Friday, sales, cheap TVs, exhausting travel, gorging oneself, and everything but being thankful for all that this country has to offer, that has happened and that another year has passed and you are around to be thankful for anything at all. Look, if you are standing there eating a drumstick, then chances are you’ve got at least one thing to be thankful for.
The holiday has many meanings, origin stories, lore and legends, but let’s not forget what its inherent meaning is: Simply to “Give Thanks.”
And put a paper turkey in the window. The Christmas decorations can wait a day.
