Someone Needs to Spank Christmas - it's Being Mean to Thanksgiving!
Kobina Wright
November 25, 2008
Sometime in late October, I was driving down Main Street. on my home from work or maybe I had run an after-work errand – I´m not sure. It was already dark out. I was coming upon one of the mansions I pass every day and in the distance I see lights…many many strings of lights. As I passed, I was flabbergasted by the fact that this house was already covered in strings of white Christmas lights, with hanging electrical lit up snowflakes on the surrounding trees in their front yard and the dimly glowing nativity scene on their roof. There was even a white decorated Christmas tree in the window and it wasn´t even Halloween yet! Then I asked myself, when trick-or-treaters come knocking on their door, do they hand out candy canes?
I´ve never been a huge advocate of Halloween, but skipping two months to get to Christmas, I thought, was insane! Then my story telling mind quickly took over when I began to paint a tragic tale of a terminally ill resident who doesn´t know if she´s going to make it to see Christmas, her most favorite holiday of the year. Her teary eyed husband and sons vow to her that Christmas will come extra early this year so that she doesn´t miss a thing. In the days passing they diligently envelope the entire house with the spirit of the holiday and allows it to seep out into the neighborhood and infect the entire community with the spirit of love, and giving… Okay, that´s the ONLY way I could wrap my mind around seeing a decorated Christmas tree in the window of a house in my neighborhood in October.
Poor Thanksgiving. Oh yeah we still celebrate it, and look to it for our annual feast, but Christmas is getting out of hand. Becoming obnoxious even, as it steps on a handful of holidays before it so that it could be seen and celebrated the longest. Christmas is turning into a spoiled brat. We need to stop giving into the whining and begging of Christmas…pull its pants down and give it a firm whack on it´s overindulged little toosh.
I know this recession has got retailers biting their nails, so they´re rolling out the red carpet for consumers, slashing prices on items before they even get price tags. I get it. I also get that consumerism has completely hijacked our holidays (and our economy). But as long as there is a dimly lit nativity scene in someone´s roof before the arrival of Thanksgiving, I will always be here to call out, "HEY! THERE´S OTHER HOLIDAYS GOING ON HERE PEOPLE!"
I´ve never been a huge advocate of Halloween, but skipping two months to get to Christmas, I thought, was insane! Then my story telling mind quickly took over when I began to paint a tragic tale of a terminally ill resident who doesn´t know if she´s going to make it to see Christmas, her most favorite holiday of the year. Her teary eyed husband and sons vow to her that Christmas will come extra early this year so that she doesn´t miss a thing. In the days passing they diligently envelope the entire house with the spirit of the holiday and allows it to seep out into the neighborhood and infect the entire community with the spirit of love, and giving… Okay, that´s the ONLY way I could wrap my mind around seeing a decorated Christmas tree in the window of a house in my neighborhood in October.
Poor Thanksgiving. Oh yeah we still celebrate it, and look to it for our annual feast, but Christmas is getting out of hand. Becoming obnoxious even, as it steps on a handful of holidays before it so that it could be seen and celebrated the longest. Christmas is turning into a spoiled brat. We need to stop giving into the whining and begging of Christmas…pull its pants down and give it a firm whack on it´s overindulged little toosh.
I know this recession has got retailers biting their nails, so they´re rolling out the red carpet for consumers, slashing prices on items before they even get price tags. I get it. I also get that consumerism has completely hijacked our holidays (and our economy). But as long as there is a dimly lit nativity scene in someone´s roof before the arrival of Thanksgiving, I will always be here to call out, "HEY! THERE´S OTHER HOLIDAYS GOING ON HERE PEOPLE!"
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