POST-THANKSGIVING MUSINGS

It snowed today. It remains to be seen how long it will stay around.

Some years back, discussion here mentioned that Thanksgiving is really a lovely holiday that should be celebrated in its own right rather than as “early Christmas.” I was convinced, and I now segue from Halloween to Christmas through Thanksgiving with a harvest theme – earth tones, pumpkins, and Pilgrims. Meanwhile, Christmas decorating in my neighborhood began to happen last weekend, which makes me feel a little behind.

Brother Chuck called the other night, and he said that his family will help him put up Christmas decorations but not until next weekend (the first weekend in December). That seemed late, he thought, and when it’s late, it’s hardly worth doing, he added. I understand; sometimes I feel that way, too. But – I think the first of December is still well within appropriate limits. “Maybe we could leave them up longer,” he said, and I agree. Do we have to put it away all at once? It’s an individual decision.

Mike and I went out on Black Friday for a bit of local shopping. He suggested that we wear masks since social distancing might be a problem. However, it was not a problem at all, and we soon eliminated the masks.

The rest of my Black Friday / Cyber Monday shopping has been accomplished from the comfort of my recliner. I shop for this and that as I think of things I want. Reports are that Black Friday sales surpassed expectations, and that’s good for the economy and our collective morale, but mostly I’ve found the deals underwhelming.

And of course, they try to make us think that these good deals will disappear tonight, but don’t let them fool you. Time is not almost up. There’s always a sale. And sometimes I wonder what retailers are thinking anyway. What’s a dollar off on a $6.00 pattern? What’s 10-15% off on a skein of yarn or a sewing notion? At this point in my life, such sales don’t matter very much, though they might have when I had a family.

We do risk that some products will sell out or won’t be delivered before Christmas if we wait too long, but trust me – there will be more deals, now and forever. KW