Retail Christmas is Giving Thanksgiving a Little Shove This Year

Dear Reader:

Mr. Turkey must feel (this year) like his fifteen minutes of fame is turning into 15 seconds! It is like people are trying to figure out when to serve Thanksgiving dinner….early, middle, or late in the day so they can go get a Christmas tree or go shopping.

Admittedly….Thanksgiving is very late this year so holiday “regulators” who like certain Christmas items on display (inside and outside their homes) so many days before Christmas are sticking to their schedules. *(I wonder how many houses will be having Thanks giving dinner amid Christmas music and Christmas decorations, trees, and holiday china?) 🙂

This past Saturday was a busy day….I took Tommy and Kaitlyn out for lunch for Kaitlyn’s belated birthday (the last warm day before the latest cold front)…perfect for sitting outside on the docks at Salt Water Cowboys restaurant. It felt like an early summer day eating beside the water. Delicious…we had a great time!

I left there to hop over to John and Mandy’s to go to the James Island Festival of Lights Saturday evening…*our first attempt to go had been rained out. It also gave me a chance to catch up with Eva Cate’s (Girls on the Run) final race update…the whole Turner family participated and finished…way to go!

The Festival of Lights was packed and we were afraid we wouldn’t get a seat on the train that runs around the park…but we lucked up and only had to wait about ten minutes and then we were off…it is our favorite activity…getting to see all the Christmas lights from the little train.

While waiting to see if we were going to be able to get tickets…I took the ‘title photo’ of Eva Cate outside the train depot under a big Christmas wreath…my iPhone flash caught all the wreath’s lights that immersed Eva Cate in white…but upon development it looked quite magical. Mandy, Jake, and John sat behind Eva Cate and myself on the train…lots of fun!

Then onto the carousel….always a special event for the kids

 

By the time we stopped and ate barbecue on the return trip…and then got back home…the wind and rain bringing (the cold front) arrived. We bundled up in our pj’s but none of us lasted very long…it had been a busy, active day for everyone.

 

 

On the way home yesterday I made a few stops picking up a few things here and there…and cutting through the back way on Sumter and Marion Avenues. I know some of you must be tired of my over-the-top fall obsession…but when you see beauty that only comes  a few weeks each year and it is over the top too…I just have to stop and soak it all in.

 

 

 

Downtown Summerville has decorated the street lights already!

Love cutting through Sumter Avenue…one of the oldest and most charming streets in Summerville.

 

Memorable Marion Avenue….

So until tomorrow…I think God understands this year that so many people are yearning to experience something spiritual at Christmas…something holy, something beautiful….Something like God. This Thanksgiving let us thank Him ahead of time for patiently waiting for us to seek Him out.

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

A BIG Shout-Out to all the Turkey Trotter Gals in the family who arrived around the Thanksgiving holidays… giving all of us so much to be thankful for…

Susan Cadwell             Carrie Simpson     Catherine Simpson

Whitney, Ismir, and baby Finn    Happy Special Birthday Whitney….Your birthday and another little ‘Turkey” baby in the family! So much to be thankful for….:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

6 Responses to Retail Christmas is Giving Thanksgiving a Little Shove This Year

  1. Susan Cadwell says:

    I never ever will get tired of the beauty of Fall. I’m one of those who believe there are two real seasons: Fall and “waiting for Fall”

  2. bcparkison says:

    Well..I am always a “day late and a dollar short” but why is Thanksgiving late this year? Isn’t it always the last Thursday in November. No..Last year it was the next to last Thursday…Why???

    • Becky Dingle says:

      Looked it up…..Here’s the reason the holiday is arriving a little on the tardier side—and it’s downright historic. In fact, the story dates all the way back to 1939 when Franklin Roosevelt decided to shake up the tradition a bit in the name of capitalism.

      Thanksgiving had been celebrated on the last Thursday of the month since the time of Abraham Lincoln. But, according to TIME, during 1939, the calendar had been unusual, as the month started on a Wednesday, so there were five Thursdays as opposed to four.

      To restore some order, Roosevelt moved the national holiday to the second-to-last Thursday of the month (a change that many were unhappy with). Instead of focusing on the negative, Roosevelt attempted to justify his decision with a pro-shopping response: merchants would now have a holiday further from Christmas to allow for more shopping time. In a way, this birthed the consumer craze known as Black Friday nearly 80 years ago.

      • Becky Dingle says:

        Sorry…Like Paul Harvey…here is the rest of the story…

        As 1941 ended, Roosevelt made the final permanent change, as he signed a bill making Thanksgiving Day fall on the fourth Thursday of November, regardless of if it is the last Thursday of the month or not.

        And for 2019, you may be thinking, “When is Thanksgiving?” This year, the month of November begins on a Friday, which means the fourth Thursday of the month falls on Nov. 28—it’s the first time Thanksgiving has been this late since 2013. ….

      • bcparkison says:

        I knew you would find the answer. Thanks.

Leave a Reply