Knight
It is early November, and I find myself swept along by the annual rush and whirl of the holiday season. For the most part, the festivities are pleasant and enjoyable though I admit I sometimes get a kind of whiplash from the rapid flow of events. Maybe it is because so many holidays, celebrations and special times are involved.
It begins, one could argue, with Labor Day. We celebrate American workers as we acknowledge the unofficial end of summer. We cookout and relax during the long weekend. Perhaps display some red, white and blue decorations. Labor Day is like stretching or a warmup before the marathon of autumn activities. And as the charcoal in the grill is turning to ash, retailers are already crowding the aisles with candy and merchandise for Halloween.
Yard decorations spring into being overnight and, as most things in our take-it-to-the-next-level, technology-powered culture, Halloween yard art gets flashier and more elaborate with each passing season. The energy and effort are remarkable. I understand why people are reluctant to take decorations down well into November, even if the holiday is over.
Spooky Halloween is barely behind us when Thanksgiving bellies up to the table. Quick, pour some gravy on it and dig in because this holiday is small potatoes. Thanksgiving Thursday is a flash, a wisp, a moment’s breath in the holiday hierarchy. Too bad because the observance is well-intentioned. After all, giving thanks for what we have been given in the previous year is about as serious and profound a gesture as one can offer. Maybe that is why there aren’t more inflatable Pilgrims and glowing electric turkeys making gobble noises cluttering neighborhood front yards. It’s more of a serious holiday.
The day after Thanksgiving starts the dash towards the finish line of the holiday celebrations. We sometimes refer to it as the “Christmas season” or the “Holiday season” although in modern American society one may claim any religion or no religion and still celebrate the several December sacred holidays with family, community, food, music and gifts. Oh, and with holiday yard art. Strings of light draped through trees and clipped to roof eaves. Plastic figures both religious and secular all aglow. Audio and video displays shared with neighbors. Essentially any object to which one can wire a bulb is radiant. Electric companies must really celebrate this time of year.
New Year’s Eve arrives at the close of December. One last communal observance before long winter begins its nap. New Year’s celebrations put a bow on that string of holidays stretching from September to December. If you happen to see New Years yard art late in the evening, it might be a display of large numbers of the new year tilted at a tipsy angle.
As if this four-month collection of holiday clutter wasn’t enough, in 2022 we have the opportunity to celebrate the democratic process by voting in mid-term elections. And with politics comes yard art. The plethora of candidate signs are like an invasion of carnival barkers along the midway: hard to ignore and impossible to avoid. At any rate, these latest efforts at expressing the people’s voice should be wrapping up as this column appears. I sure hope things went well and democracy won.
As I was contemplating our current argumentative and contentious national mood, I came upon some interesting information. This Sunday, Nov. 13, is International World Kindness Day. Founded in 1998 to promote kindness across the globe, today it is observed in many countries around the world. Now, at the risk of adding another busy day to the end-of-the-year holiday confusion, I suggest we include Nov. 13, International World Kindness Day, in our calendar of holidays. Because it falls so near Election Day, it might make a difference.
And think of the yard art possibilities.
Norman Knight, a retired Clark-Pleasant Middle School teacher, writes this weekly column for the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].
