Thanksgiving vs. Christmas

Thanksgiving has seemingly devolved into a kind of pre-Christmas or Christmas-lite, However, when we were kids (yes, I am a boomer), my parents made sure we knew the difference. For one thing, Black Friday was not a trap we were ever lured into. The Friday after Thanksgiving is for many the day the Christmas shopping season starts, but our mother wasn’t going to wade into any Madison-Avenue-induced slugfest just to acquire Christmas gifts. Friday was spent with cousins, playing board and card games at home, with turkey sandwiches for lunch.

Here’s what we learned about Thanksgiving back (mumble) years ago:

Pilgrims came to these shores in 1620. They barely survived the winter, and that was only possible thanks to the help the Wampanoag people provided. They taught the Pilgrims how to grow local crops. The part of that mythology I remember best, however, is that when the pilgrims were on the brink of death, members of the Wampanoag tribe arrived with baskets of food and they all had a wonderful feast together. It didn’t happen quite that way, but Wampanoag and pilgrims did share a feast.

The Wampanoag would later learn that no good deed goes unpunished, but when we were kids creating pilgrim outfits and Indian war bonnets out of construction paper, we accepted this sugar-coated tale with warm hearts.

Youth Worker photo, date unknown

For the most part, European invaders were too busy in the 16th-19th centuries getting the Native nations out of their way to appreciate the help they once provided. So I suspect Abraham Lincoln wasn’t even thinking of Wampanoag and pilgrim when he created Thanksgiving in 1863.

Another difference: Thanksgiving music is not as endemic as Christmas music, and it’s just not the same. As kids, we learned “Over the River and Through the Woods.” I also love “We Gather Together” at Thanksgiving, but not the original Dutch hymn, which is way too Calvinistic to enjoy. Give me the Unitarian-Universalist version any day.

Anyway, while our materialistic society wants to make both Thanksgiving and Christmas all about spending money. In some people’s minds, Thanksgiving is just the beginning of the Christmas season. Here’s how resisters distinguish between the two:

holiday	Thanksgiving	christmas
The meaning	A day to give thanks for our many blessings	Celebration of the birth of Christ
How it’s  really celebrated	A frenzy of cooking and eating; watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade and (American) football games on television. Heartier souls may even play football. Some people start Christmas shopping already, but those people are heathens.	Some people go to church; Christmas Eve Midnight Mass is usually lovely.  Presents! A nice lunch or dinner with family and friends
Menu	Turkey is apparently the law; ignore at your peril. Pumpkin pie, cranberries, sweet potatoes & more!	Often turkey, but also ham, roast beef, or other family favorites. Christmas cookies!
Music	Over the River and Through the Woods, We Gather Together. There might be some I’m missing, but people don’t sing nearly enough at Thanksgiving!	Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, White Christmas, Jingle Bells (& too many more to list)
Movies	Very few. The Big Chill, The Blind Side (arguably), maybe  Miracle on 34th Street (which is more of a Christmas movie)	A Christmas Carol (& updates like Scrooged), It’s a Wonderful Life, White Christmas & many more

Writing Blessings of Thanksgiving 2013

It’s been quite a year. I’ve received many blessings from family and friends. You know who you are, and there will be hugs and pie later.

What’s foremost in my mind right now is how many writing blessings (is that a thing?) have come to me lately.

Did I mention I “won”?

My first writing blessing has to be National Novel Writing Month. Long ago in a galaxy far away, I used to write a lot. Then life, and a personal confidence crisis intervened. Some time after that, I learned about National Novel Writing Month from my friend Cheryl. Participating in 2010 helped my regain my mojo. Now I have a whole blog about it—the mojo, that is. You happen to be reading it. I suspect mojo hangs around longer when you celebrate it. It’s kind of like a muse that way.

Writing Blessing Two – The Writing Journey, an all-year writing group which grew out of the local Naperville region of National Novel Writing Month. These were the first people who helped me realize that you don’t have to figure out the writing stuff all by yourself. If I tried to name everyone in the group who’s helped me, we’d be here all day. All the same, special thanks should go to NewMexicoKid, KatherineWriting and Whitey.

Cat Rambo

Blessing 3 – Cat Rambo, who allowed me to read a beta version of her new book Career Building for Writers: Building an Online Presence. The Kindle version is now available on Amazon with a print version to follow soon. I’m taking her class on the topic in December, and I suspect there are more online classes with Cat in my future.

MRK image © 2012 Rod Searcey

Blessing 4 – Mary Robinette Kowal, who taught a positively kick-ass online workshop last weekend, called Short Story Intensive. She’s taught the subject both as a weekly offering and as a weekend workshop. I had no clue how I’d handle something like that in November (see National Novel Writing Month, above) but: wow. She managed to be exacting, informative, and nurturing all at the same time. I feel as if I gained both skill and confidence fast, fast, fast! The workshop was over too soon. To keep me from going into a decline, BK (my husband, if I haven’t identified him before) offered one of Mary’s workshops, Writing the Other, as a Christmas present. I snapped it up, and will be in Chattanooga next June. As NewMexicoKid would say, huzzah!

Blessing 5 – My talented fellow workshoppers, who also helped make the weekend great. Mary said we were a good group and should keep in touch, and we’re planning to do so. Coming soon: blog posts about their forthcoming published works and other triumphs.

There’s always more to be thankful for than I can remember, but you’re in a hurry, and I’m not that smart.*

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

*I totally stole the tagline from the Writing Excuses podcast series.