Everywhere you look, anywhere you turn, you can basically count on seeing one thing: Christmas. Why is this a problem? Look at your calendar. It is still November.
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As forgotten a month as that crumpled dollar bill under the couch, or that half-eaten sucker stuck to the basement floor, November and its respective holiday, Thanksgiving, always get overlooked and overshadowed by the commercial nightmare that is Christmas. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Christmas. The lights, the sounds, the smells, the snow, the music, the giving, the food, everything! But not in November.
Why is Thanksgiving so easily overlooked? Are we as human beings so desperate to get to that season of "getting" that we don't stop and take a moment to give thanks for what we already have?
I can just see it now, years from today. The day after Halloween, all the radio stations will be playing Christmas music until your mind becomes so intoxicated with jingle bells and winter wonderlands that you dream about stockings and sugarplums on Nov. 15. Oh wait ... that's already happening!
Again, I realize that Christmas is a big deal, but come on, isn't 36 days enough? That includes the days after Thanksgiving as well as all of December. 36 days. 864 hours. 51,840 minutes. And let's face it, on Jan. 1 we're all dying for the radio stations to go back to their normal song lineups and leave Christmas music alone until next year. And have you ever heard that saying about having "too much of a good thing"? Well, that's what happens every year when the Christmas music comes on at 12 a.m. on Nov. 1.
Now, let's take a trip back in time, shall we? The year is 1620 as the story goes, and a group of people seeking religious freedom have just landed at a place called Plymouth, and have disembarked from their ship, the Mayflower. We all know the story from here, as the Pilgrims and the American Indians eventually shared a feast during the harvest season to give thanks for all they had. They gave thanks for the food on their table, for the clothes on their backs, and for the roofs over their heads. They gave thanks for their friends and family and for their new, free lives in what would one day become America.
Why can't we reflect those same ideals today? Why can't we spend an entire month giving thanks and showing appreciation to those around us? For once, I'd like to see Thanksgiving have its own time to shine, and let Christmas happen after Thanksgiving has passed. Save the music for after Thanksgiving. Just like some precious metal, the less common that it is, the more valuable it becomes.
Again, I'm not saying that Christmas is horrible and that it should be forgotten, definitely not! I'm just saying that Thanksgiving, a holiday which is always overlooked, should be afforded the same attention and time as Christmas. And besides, what better way to set up the Christmas season than through giving thanks for all that you have? My thinking is that Thanksgiving opens the doors to receive the warm, ever-welcome spirit of Christmas.
So this year, savor your pumpkin pie, enjoy the turkey and stuffing, and truly reflect on everything which is important to you. I know that's what I'll be doing.
Kimball Gardner is a senior at Clearfield High School. He enjoys writing, reading, playing basketball and listening to music. E-mail him at 11kgardner1@davis.k12.ut.us.
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