Some links may be affiliate links. I may earn money if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these links on this site.
Rob Knowlan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
National Tie One on Day 2024
As 🥂 suggestive 🍻 as the title appears, National Tie One on Day actually refers to tying on an apron and getting down to prepping your Thanksgiving Day meal. 🥗🍗🥧
No 👨🍳 Coincidence
Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence. ~Erma Bombeck
So, tomorrow is the big day. We are at the gateway to the Holiday Season (note the caps). We are at the peak of the big Olympic ski jump ramp of Holly Jolly Holidays.
From Thanksgiving Day, we used to spring into Black Friday, Advent, Christmas, New Year’s and finally landing on Epiphany.
Now, we don’t even have to wait for Black Friday for it to be Black Friday anymore. Black Friday in the last few years has started as soon as the last slice of pumpkin pie is eaten.
In the interest of maximum profits, we no longer settle for Black Friday or even Thanksgiving Dinner Is Over, Let’s Go Shopping. No, we’ve got Black Friday Month.
As much as people like to gripe about playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving, it won’t be long before Black Friday begins as soon as the Halloween costumes come off.
This year we waited until after the Election and Veteran’s Day to really ramp up Black Friday Month. That’s testing the waters.
Next year, the election is simply municipal and state-level. Nobody generally pays that much attention to local politics unless your governor is a complete douche-canoe.
No election drama plus a successful test run of Black Friday Month tells me that the shopping frenzy will start before your kids are done dumping their candy into the inspection bowl.
Hey, take that witch hat off, there’s a flash sale on microwaves and big screen TVs at the Walmart. Yes, yes, I’ll get you a big bag of discounted candy while we’re there but hurry up.
If things continue on this trajectory, Black Friday will start after we finish our burgers and potato salad on Labor Day.
It seems that anything that can be monitized and over-advertised will be. It seems that the perpetual shopping holidays are turning into a solid block of commerce to keep us distracted and broke. If you’ve noticed that, you probably also noticed that it’s no coincidence…
Tie It On
Daily Holiday – National tie one on day
The thing about Thanksgiving that makes it different from all the other imminently commoditizable holidays is that it is not an inherently gift-related event.
Thanksgiving is about giving thanks (duh), but it is also about getting together with loved ones and sharing a rare feast together.
The only gifts to be given are time and attention.
Sure, some members of the family will be giving the gift of time and effort in the kitchen.
Some members of the family will be giving the gift of delivered ingredients or supplies.
Some members of the family will be giving the gift of hospitality and reminiscence.
But there is no wrapping paper, packaging, tape, ribbons or bows. There’s no fanfare or taking turns.
We do it together. The food is passed around as needed and we all eat together. We give thanks for family, for freedom, for love, for prosperity and for God’s grace.
Thanksgiving is explicitly about giving thanks. Those of us who remember that will have a wonderful time. Those of us who only see it as a sparring session with contentious relatives will not.
Life is full of choices. Choices have consequences. On Thanksgiving Day, let’s choose to give thanks and share fellowship and a delicious feast. Life is great if you choose to put in the effort.
Unspectacular Preparation
Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation. ~Robert H. Schuller
Well, not a moment too soon, I finally got into the groove on this year’s story. I’ve clocked 11 of 38 episodes and will be making even more progress this coming super-duper holiday weekend.
I finally have a bit of a weight off of my mind as I will soon have a colleague at work again to share the load of data conversion, report changes and other duties as they arise.
Much like the grueling process of putting together a Thanksgiving Dinner, getting a story written is more than just getting words on the page. There’s editing. There’s formatting. There’s scheduling. It’s unspectacular and very much in the category of “getting the sausage made“.
I’ve had a devil of a time trying to get into the zone this year. Now that I’m soon to have some relief, that’s one less stressor detracting from my process.
I really hoped to have the thing done by now, but circumstances did not cooperate this time around. No worries. I’ve been farther behind and still got it done in the St. Nick of time.
I’m not sure what I’m doing for a cover for this year’s paperback. Most times, I already have a cover design in mind. This year, I’ve been a bit too distracted and busy to give it appropriate thought. Oh well, details, details…
That’s all for today. Tomorrow is the Intro to this year’s Holiday Season Serial Romance, The Lights of Pine Hollow exclusively on Christmas All The Time.