Dear Reader:

Yesterday we touched on the subject of why Thanksgiving is so late without a good explanation  so I did my homework ….Why is it so late?

We have to go all the way back to 1939 when Franklin D. Roosevelt was President. Because we were slowly just starting to pull out of the Depression FDR decided that he would change the date Abraham Lincoln had originally decided upon…the national day of thanks… as being the last Thursday in November to the third Thursday in November.

Basically his reasoning was based on building the economy back up. He figured by having the holiday the third Thursday of the month…it would free up an extra week or so between Thanksgiving and Christmas that retailers could sure use to boost their Christmas sales.

*(Retailers loved the idea- in fact today FDR is credited with providing the impetus for Black Friday-but most Americans did not “cotton” to the change.)

So finally in 1941, the year we joined in WWII, President Roosevelt decided to change it (not back to the last Thursday of the month like Lincoln) but the fourth Thursday of the month…(no matter whether it was the last or not) – since occasionally we have five Thursdays in a month)

This year the problem was the first day of the month started on a Friday which meant the first Thursday in this November 2019 month didn’t begin until the 7th. A little math here…7 x 4=28! Check it out on the calendar! 🙂

So now you know….Lincoln set the last Thursday in November, FDR first tried the third Thursday in November but the people didn’t like it much so he finally changed it to the fourth Thursday (no matter how it falls…early or late (earliest possibility now is the 22- latest- 28)

See how confusingly simply it really is! 🙂 It’s just simple arithmetic complicated by politics! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Nice rhyme there! (What else is new?)

So until tomorrow…For most school children…today is their last day before the holidays…it is always hard to tell who is the happiest…the students or the teachers! Well done everyone…Thanksgiving is almost here!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Boo’s Daily Fall Photos….Fall just keeps getting better and better…peaking for Thanksgiving Day I think!

Fall leaves mixed in Spanish Moss…a lowcountry “delicacy” ..beautiful old homes and new….and each shrub and tree trying to get  attention with the sunlight dappling through it.

Pulling into my driveway I could see the sassafras bushes all the way from the front driveway and my Bradford Pear has undergone an amazing transformation in two days…from dark red to……bright oranges and golden yellows.