oct 11 20201 - And After Thanksgiving, Is there Rest? No

 

After our Canadian dinner of Canadian leftovers last night, the "Day of Distinguishing Canadian vs US Thanksgiving" comes to a close.   It brought to mind things that might or might not be celebrated based on country and religion.  We joke about Canadian vs American Thanksgiving.  However, we fail to take into account being Indigenous in either country and how overwhelming the colonial nature of the holiday tradition has been.  What about our next holiday?  It's Halloween.  What do we find?  It is labelled a secular holiday - like Valentine's and Thanksgiving. It comes from some ancient tradition - Celtic - so that might be ok.  But wait, the Roman Catholics took it over as an All Saints Day.  That's what makes it political to all sorts of religious groups. I am quite amazed by how many holidays the Jehovah Witnesses reject - they claim that Jesus didn't ask for anyone to celebrate his birthday.  So Christmas is off. And after that? It is Remembrance Day on November 11 at 11:00am.  Give up the singing of Onward Christian Soldiers and the British National Anthem in Ireland.  These items are the subject of protest.  Ireland is particularly troubled by the day of commemorations.  And then there are religious groups such as Quakers. Then we're on to American Thanksgiving with the predominant views alternating between the Pilgrims 'sharing' their harvest with the 'natives' and the harmoniously sharing the 'first Thanksgiving meal'. We round out the year with Christmas and celebrating the New Year.  We know Christmas is political.  Are New Year's celebrations a political issue?  The Jehovah Witnesses pop up again - they "refuse participation in ecumenical and interfaith activities."  Keep going and you will find 4 reasons why Muslims should not celebrate the New Year.  Mostly, though, it is complete cultures who don't celebrate January 1st as the New Year - think of Chinese New Year. We can continue through the entire year, and this trend will apply to every celebration holiday.  It seems to me this is an instance where being a Global Village has its dilemmas. Our picture today was taken a year ago.  It is the Cherry Ave intersection from yesterday's picture of the bicycle driver in the flower field.  It is on the left side past the intersection.

Oct 10 2021 - Thanksgiving Only in Canada

 

Is there a reason we must call today Canadian Thanksgiving? Yes, it is a simple reason - American Thanksgiving is bigger, bolder, and more cherished.  It seems to be next to sacred with its mythical beginning with the Pilgrims.  Search for Thanksgiving and all manner of U.S. perspectives will be retrieved.   What about the Canadian perspective? I found this quote, without attribution, to describe it: It's very dear to me, the issue of Canadian Thanksgiving.  Or, as I like to call it:  "Thanksgiving"... I had lunch this afternoon, not Canadian lunch.  I parked my car.  I didn't Canadian park it.   The proximity to Christmas is portrayed in this visual joke:   Americans too complain about its placement in the calendar: “Even though we’re a week and a half away from Thanksgiving, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.” —Richard Roeper “My fondest memories are generally the day after Thanksgiving. I get the total decorating Christmas itch.” –  Katharine McPhee Given Thanksgiving's place in the calendar, we might find this joke especially funny:     I drive "down" Cherry Ave every week on my way from Elaine's Pear Blossom Orchard to pick up my vegetables.  It is a great hill with a spectacular view of Toronto across the lake.  That is where today's picture was taken.  It was at the bottom of Cherry Ave and Highway 8 way back in October 2009. This corner is now a vineyard, but then it was a field of wildflowers.  Lucky me that day that a person in a red jacket was riding their bicycle.