What's Your Favorite Holiday?

Yesterday, Prof. Chatt. waxed eloquently on Thanksgiving in answer to your question

*image from shadesofgraves.com*

What's Your Favorite Holiday?

 *image from slickhousewives.com*

Thanksgiving is great and all. I mean, the proof is out there that expressing gratitude makes us happier people (watch this video to see what I mean). So be thankful. 

But for my money, the best non-religious holiday on the calendar is Halloween. It has everything: dressing up, crisp night air, fire, chances to be artsy, mischief, and sweets. It's just too good not to love it. Some of y'all may be interested in some of the Haunted Offerings in the Chattanooga area. There's The Haunted Barn, The Haunted Cavern at Ruby Falls, and Blowing Screams Farm, just to name a few. You could go on the Chattanooga Ghost Tours. Or you could try to sleep in Room 311 of the Sheraton Read House. That's assuming, of course, that you don't go trick-or-treating (YOU. AREN'T. TOO. OLD!) or sit in a pumpkin patch watching for The Great Pumpkin. Oh, Linus. I love your earnest belief. 

Cheers,

Dr. Y

What is your favorite holiday?

What is your favorite holiday?








My birthday!
Oh, wait.  That's only a holiday in my world.


In all seriousness, my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.  When I was a kid, I used to LOVE Thanksgiving because it meant spending all day with my cousins and extended family who I didn't see as often throughout the year.  It meant yummy, yummy food that had been slaved over for hours or perhaps days by the women in the family.  It meant catching a sneak peek of drunk uncles and older cousins and laughing at their antics.  It meant being thankful for having such a large family with which to break bread.

As I got older and went off to college, Thanksgiving was the holiday that everyone came home for.  It still meant gathering with family and extended family, but it also meant appreciating who was still around and how much we'd grown from year to year.  It meant the semester was almost over and I could soon get my extended month-long break between the semesters.  It also still meant delicious food, but it also meant that perhaps I helped in the kitchen now, or had at least gained enough years to watch and learn a few secrets.

Now, Thanksgiving means all of these things and so much more.  It means appreciating the beauty of the season: the awesome wonder of the changing leaves, changing temps, and shortening days.  It means look around this city and seeing the waves of gold, red, orange as the trees on the mountains change colors.  It means I can use words like "autumnal."  It means that now I prepare the large feast for my family and extended family to enjoy.  It means I appreciate what I have and who I still have in my life even more than when I was a kid.  It means learning and living what it truly means to give thanks.  And it also still means the semester is almost over. ;-)

Happy early Thanksgiving!

Go enjoy your favorite holiday!



Professor Chatterbox