I am all for progress that facilitates growth while remembering the past.  But after glancing at news the day after Thanksgiving hope for time honored traditions seemed bleak.  Bleary eyed shoppers clamoring at steel bars demanding the stores open reminded me of starvation victims begging for food.  It was eerily pathetic and prophetic watching the Black Friday hullabaloo, an Armageddon for holidays to come.  I imagined the ghost of Thanksgiving future will be a drive-by Starbucks for a pre-made turkey and stuffing sandwich then on to the conveyor of stores to shop until you need another hit of caffeine, which you can drink from water fountain like stations.  No more smells from the kitchen no more giving of thanks no more taking time to gather—the face of Turkey day will be a store gazing extravaganza!  Children will be careened into massive daycares, learn corporate songs and slogans.  They will be fed stories about how the mighty Target and Wal-Mart saved Thanksgiving.  This holiday needs our support before it chokes on the infringing materialism that is suffocating all semblance of tradition. 

What about Thanksgiving past?  Will it be buried in the land of legends or worse forever forgot.  Will corporations spread propaganda about the dangers of celebrating the old fashion way—eeks—would it one day be out lawed punishable by death.  “You heretic how dare you cook your own organic turkey and creamed onions.  Why are you not shopping?”  I fear for the generations to come that they will no longer know what it felt like to make construction paper turkeys with your hands.  Or help prepare a family recipe of yams. 

The demise of Thanksgiving is insidious its ebb and flow hoodwinked by corporate America.  Yet this holiday in its raw essence is the holiday that unifies.  I say we un-hood ourselves and take back our traditions boycott stores and take to the woods.  Thanksgiving is the one holiday we can all agree on.  There are no restrictions or club memberships—you don’t have to be ordained into any political, religious, or social society to gather and celebrate blessings.  And after all that is the crux of Thanksgiving—even the name eludes its origins of acknowledging our blessings.

Counting ones blessings is perspective oriented and therein lays its vulnerability. One hundred years ago people gave thanks merely for the food they had no matter how small or great the amount. Now obesity demands super-sizing and the need for more is as potent as herion.  But as I mentioned in the beginning of this blog—I believe in progress with a point.  Counting of blessings may be spending the day with friends eating a vegetarian meal or going for a hike and then grubbing on a pot luck supper.  These mutations from the traditional Thanksgiving keep the vein of giving thanks alive.  Running down aisles looking for bargains bears no salutation to Thanksgiving’s heritage.     

Where will it end?  As a child, I remember the anticipation of Thanksgiving was terrific.  I went to a school with students from around the globe that were now living in America—and we linked hands in song and pageants.  It was a delightful time of being with family—and believe me I realize this may be painful for many adults.  But as a child I was oblivious to political differences or festering resentments as I was delirious with the smells emitting from my grandmothers kitchen.  My father insisted on a hike before the meal and it became our custom.  No stores not even food stores were open you merely gathered with family and friends.  As my girls grew older we hosted misfits Thanksgivings.  Friends and friends of their friends who had nowhere to go came to our house for dinner.  I began my own traditions such as making homemade pumpkin soup and serving it in a carved out pumpkin.  Simplicity and laughter abounded.  The day after, we go for a bike ride—not a mall.

As we enter into the holiday seasons, I call for all of us to take a step back into the past and find ways to save our holidays from the sneering corporations who keep their doors open to increase their profits. Children need a reprieve from the continual onslaught of modern demands.  Take them back into that enchanted world of cultural traditions.  I believe we need to protect our holidays from the so called progress corporate mentality shoves in our faces.  Take to the hills the by ways and rivers—reclaim your power to step away from stores as you bask in the refreshing light of merely being together in celebration.