Radio stations have been playing Christmas music for weeks. Online stores have had Black Friday sales all month. In late October, The New York Times published a story about this year’s “Christmas creep” slipping all the way behind Halloween—even in Salem, MA, the Halloween capital of America.
I think by and large we’re able to resist that creep, and I think we can thank Thanksgiving for that. Requiring less of us but in some ways giving more—it’s one of the few occasions that brings extended families together, and the foods and flavors are both beloved and unique—we know it’s worth anticipating and savoring, regardless of any brighter and shinier things to come.
Happy holiday, everyone.
Written by Dan Mims. Image by Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock.