Lack of Thanksgiving decorations

For Halloween, you put out spooky decorations and wear crazy costumes as one may see in Ann Arbor nightlife. For any December holiday, you wrap the house lights and display a different set of festive decorations that remind people of the calendar. During the time between October and December, a holiday seems to be neglected. When it comes to family and friends, it may be one with the most obvious purpose with a blatant title designated to giving thanks. Thanksgiving. The excitement of dressing up and trick-or-treating quickly transitions into a stressful period of planning and shopping maybe for wrong reasons, reasons of competition and saving money. The moment the turkey dinner ends, people scramble to the nearest shopping mall in hopes of stealing a bargain. Not everyone, of course, but it sometimes appears that way.

Maybe what we need is a reminder? How would you decorate for Thanksgiving anyway? Putting out a cornucopia doesn’t quite trigger the holiday feeling. Typically, shades of orange and plastic autumn foliage, but that overlaps with plain fall accessories. Nothing really screams Thanksgiving unless you place a pilgrim memento on the table, at least not for me. Maybe the beauty of Thanksgiving is that you don’t need the ornate decorations or entertainment attached to the holiday. No characters, no ridiculous sales, no tangible items the enhance the holiday. Just gratitude. Without the accessories on an outfit, for example, you pay more attention to looking into the eyes of the person as opposed to how he or she is dressed. Likewise, without the accessories of a holiday, you are not distracted from the core meaning of the holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving!