Just once a year

We are in the midst of a glorious time of the year when we get to experience a plethora of things,  just once a year.

It begins with Thanksgiving leading right up to Christmas. Many call it the holiday season; I like to refer to it as the traffic light season. Metaphorically speaking: stop for the red light to reflect, go for the green light to shop and prepare for the inescapable commotion that is this time of the year.

At least for me, these are the things that are spoken during this special time of the year: pilgrims, turkeys, Christmas trees, birthdays, shopping, pumpkin pie, and thankfulness. Allow me to elaborate:

PILGRIMS-Unless you are watching a John Wayne movie, the word pilgrim only comes up but once a year around Thanksgiving. Briefly, to the best of my recollection, here is their history. Back in 1620, the Pilgrims were a group of Europeans seeking religious freedom. They boarded a sailing vessel called the Mayflower to come to a new land to make a fresh start. Many, due to illness, died on the trip and once here many died yet again, as the winters were too harsh. The ones who survived made friends with the inhabitants, the Native American Indians, who taught them to grow their own food. On the fourth Thursday of every November we pay tribute to those courageous pilgrims, by sitting down with our families for a feast. Then, subsequently make fun of their bland garb.

TURKEY- Having the traditional Thanksgiving Day bird is most definitely a once a year thing, sometimes twice if you have it for Christmas. Since I was born the day after Turkey day, I have always somewhathad a soft spot in my heart for the feathered creature, known for its gobbling sound. Here are a few random public and personal facts about the turkey that reinforce why I am so fond of them:

a) Ben Franklin has gone on record stating he would have preferred to have the turkey, not the eagle, as the national bird and symbol of the United States. b) Its just not Thanksgiving until I have some turkey, preferably a drumstick. c)Tryptophan is the turkey’s way of getting even with us, which is a condition we all suffer from if we eat too much of it, that causes drowsiness. d) One year before I die, at Thanksgiving, I plan to deep fry a turkey. I just haven’t convinced anyone else to join me in my excursion, yet.
BIRTHDAY(s) - This is definitely a once a year thing. Mine happens to fall on November 24^th, which always lands in the vicinity of T- Giving. I know this may sound strange for an adult male to admit this, but I genuinely like my birthday, As I get older, I’m getting to the point that I realize it is a gift in itself just to be alive. Being forty five years old means I’ve been around enough to know better and yet know enough to make the most of every day. Anymore, gifts are optional; it’s just nice to be remembered by the kids and wife. Also, an added bonus is that my body still works for the most part.

CHRISTMAS TREES- Don’t tell Charlie Brown, but my tree is an artificial one. The peculiar thing about my tree is every year my wife and I discuss replacing it because it drops needles. Yet, somehow when we get it out of the shed we give it the once over and it still looks fine to decorate. A lot like my hairline eventually both will go bald and will have to be dealt with, but for now we persevere. Years ago I had an incident with a real tree, which has dampened my need for one. Long story short, between freezing the tree in the bucket, then hacking the trunk to get it out of the bucket, then my vacuum getting clogged by the crazy amount of needles the tree would drops and I pledged to leave well enough alone . Hence, I gave up on getting a real tree for now. One year I will make Charlie Brown proud again and get a real live pine tree, but not this year.

SHOPPING- I will share very little on this topic, well because I’m a man. If it were up to me, at least at this stage in my life, I would only buy and exchange gift cards. However, I would never have said that when I was a kid. My change in heart sounds nice to me, but realistically for kids this is far too practical and takes the fun out of unwrapping gifts. Giving or getting a gift card, at least for me, takes the angst out of choosing just the right gift and allows the card holder the power to get exactly what he or she wants. Which for me, more times than not, is a coffee, a newspaper and or some snacks on which to munch.

PUMKIN PIE (AND THE LIKE) - It’s funny to me how this time of the year has its own food and drink. Like pumpkin pie and turkey for T-giving and eggnog and fruitcake for Christmas. We indulge in things simply because we always have and somehow eating something familiar helps better put us in the holiday spirit. The holidays on a whole seem to cause us to eat and make merry, at least for me. But, somehow this time of the year means eating is in vogue and puts dieting on the back burner. On Christmas Eve, even though I have it during the year as well, I must have a can of Planters’ peanuts with red Cream soda. A tradition I took from my grandfather many years ago which every year makes me feel like a kid again and helps put in the holiday mood.

THANKFULNESS- Speaking for myself, I wish I complained less and was more thankful, especially during this special time of the year. When the season starts out with Thanksgiving we spend a lot of time saying thank you for just about everything and to just about everybody. Then if you are like me we go Christmas shopping and fight for our space in line and end up grumpy, if we can’t find the right gift, etc and so on. Crazy how we go from a holiday based on gratitude then on to high stress if we can’t complete the gift lists for our loved ones. Human nature is strange, we so quickly forget the reason for the Season, and instead of celebrating the gift of Christ’s birth, we get obsessed with giving just the right gift.

In hindsight, may we all during this holiday season, when we are scurrying about trying desperately to remember all the above things, stop long enough to be thankful as much as possible and make a habit of doing it more than just once a year.

Swavel