Listening Post: Well Seasoned
We’re well into the season now—the holiday season, of course. At one time this was a fairly ordinary time, punctuated by a few different and special days. But over the years those days have spread out, like sugar cookies with too much butter, until the whole baking sheet is evenly coated with gooey goodness.
"...Cyber Monday, whatever that is."
Likewise, the specific celebrations have sort of flowed together in mind, until the whole period from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day has become a time of generalized togetherness, gratitude, generosity and feasting, accompanied by a constant side-channel of vicarious ritualized sports violence, much lamentable but unavoidable traditional music, and a marked tendency toward extreme household deficit spending.
I try to give the most egregious features of the season a miss, such as Black Friday retail shopping, as well as Cyber Monday, whatever that is. But in the end–as they say in science fiction–“Resistance is futile,” and “You will be assimilated.” True that.
The tradition handed down.
For example, I watched Santa on TV making his official entrance during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, just as I always do while cooking the turkey, and just like the Pilgrims did. And I’ll buy a lot of stuff in stores, and online too, wrap it up in unrecyclable paper and hide it in the closet for Christmas Day, just like the other Three Wise Men. And in between, I’ll go to concerts and plays and art exhibits, and I’ll watch movies that end once again with a—Surprise!–“Christmas miracle.”
We never seem to tire of it, at least not before Boxing Day, and I guess that goes for me, too. If the season runs on long enough, everyone eventually joins in. So the season keeps expanding, lapping up against Halloween on one side, and encroaching on Martin Luther King Day on the other. Time-frugal homeowners are leaving their outdoor light displays up all the time now, just turning off the breaker during the shrinking remainder of the year. That must be where they get the expression “off-season.”
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Dale, I always enjoy your posts, but this time you’ve outdone yourself. Marvelous. One correction, however: Surely the last day of Holiday Season is Superbowl Sunday and not MLK, yes? Anyhow, as someone who lives five minutes from the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets (which I avoid like the plague), I’m in solidarity with anyone fed up by the season’s commercialism.
In regard to the season: it is the gooeyness that has overtaken the message of faith, hope and love, of peace and blessing. The clarity of “the season” has been lost, a clarity that proposed looking at the innocent and being inspired to share love, take joy in innocence and express that, and see in representation of babe, parents, the shepherds and wisemen, and animals even gathered as one. The season exists because of Christmas, about the birth of Christ. Gooeyness does not offer much clarity. Oh, about that lamentable but unavoidable traditional music, do you mean Christmas carols and the feasts songs? I hope not. They got here first before the “chipmonks.” And yes, commercialism diminishes all of the season.
I guess I’m getting a little old and cranky but I’m sick of the holiday hype except for children.
Halloween should be for children but many adults want to take over it. Same seems to be true for Christmas
Thanksgiving has become a turkey sandwich between these two major holidays.
MLK and Superbowl, not much worth paying any attention to and nothing against either Martin Luther King or football. I like both but real holidays they are not.
I can’t think of one thing I want for Christmas except for having a nice day with family, preferably one with some snow falling but not enough to be a problem.