Monday, November 29, 2010

Glimpses Into the Past


Although most people are probably halfway done with their Christmas shopping by now,  I still have Easter candy lying around I'm still stuck in Thanksgiving mode and don't seem to be in any hurry to shift gears.

In fact, I'm stuck in reverse.

After spending two days preparing for Thanksgiving and another two days sleeping doing dishes and cleaning up, I didn't have time to read last Thursday's Gazette Journal until yesterday.

One of my favorite columns is Glimpses Into the Past:

100 Years Ago
Thursday, November 24, 1910
from the Mathews Journal
"Editorial:  In olden days our puritan forefathers were wont to regard Thanksgiving as almost a holy day.  They rested and feasted and returned humble and sincere thanks to God for his manifold blessings. 

We wonder if in this Twentieth Century, when progress is the motto; when accumulation of wealth is the only ambition; and when mechanisms and machinery, invented by the genius of man, have supplanted the old time methods of doing things, we appreciate and are sufficiently thankful for the many advantages and multiple blessings we enjoy.

It would seem that even in this age of turmoil the people could spare one day to return thanks as did their forebears in simple and earnest fashion.  Then Thanksgiving Day would be more than a mere holiday and the people would have, in a slight degree only, discharged the debt they owe to the Allwise Creative Power that has guarded their foot steps safely through the years and rendered it possible for them to enjoy the privileges of this enlightened age."

The references to the "mechanisms and machinery invented by the genius of man" make me wonder what the author might say to all the i-have-this and the  you-tube-that.

He'd probably say, along with my son, "Chesapeake Bay Woman, get with the program. Can you give us one good reason why you don't have an i-anything yet?"

Speaking for CBW, she'd say, "Fear of change.  I don't know."

Speaking of the clash between past and present--and we may have been, however briefly---this weekend I spent a lot of time dawdling lounging in front of the TV with my children.

One night, I forced them to watch the Wizard of Oz, after it dawned on me that they hadn't seen a non-3-D or computer-animated movie since ancient history in recent history.  So while I ooooed and aaahhed at the costumes and the music and the colors and the hooked noses and the flying monkeys, they pretended to watch while doing who knows what on their i-gadgets.

Whether they were paying close attention or not, they absorbed the most important parts of the lesson I was trying to teach which may not may loosely correlate to the spirit of that  past and present editorial above, as follows:

  1. It's important to slow down.
  2. Focus on what you have, not what you don't have.
  3. Savor the small things.
  4. Appreciate the past.
  5. Marvel at the ingenuity and creativity of others.
  6. Revel in the present without worrying so much about the fact that it's less than a month until Christmas and you've done absolutely, positively nothing except boil the carcass of your Thanksgiving turkey to make soup, which as we know has nothing to do with preparing for Christmas and everything to do with merely preparing last night's dinner.
  7. Make a note to call an electrician so you can put up your artificial tree, since all the electrical sockets in the family room--except, thankfully, the one hooked up to the TV where you force your children to watch movies from the year 1939--are not working, and in order to have a properly functioning Christmas tree one theoretically needs a properly functioning electrical source for the lights.
  8. And one wonders why one doesn't have an i-anything, when one can barely get electricity/current to her house.
My justification for avoiding the 21st century Christmas shopping or decorating over the extended weekend is now over.

The End.

p.s. Have a great week, and thanks for letting me gripe  ramble vent.

7 comments:

Jamie said...

I don't want to think about Christmas. Lots of things swirling around for post-holidays that promise to be completely life changing and anxiety inducing, so I don't want to think about the Christmas onslaught. I did manage to put the outdoor lights up and hang wreaths on the windows.

Ann Marie said...

Tree is up.. (making the ornaments as I go so not completely decorated) exactly 3 presents are purchased which means I am HALF WAY DONE!!!!
Hate me if you will... Love me cause Jill said you have to.

The Wizard of Oz is probably my all time favorite movie ever... granted they borrowed that flying monkey routine from me but whatever..

Meg McCormick said...

Don't feel bad - I still have a bag full of empty plastic Easter eggs on top of a hutch in my dining room. I meant to put them away in April, but then I stopped seeing them.

I really want to not drive myself crazy this Christmas season. And not drive myself broke.

I love the Wizard of Oz - I need to get it on DVD. We watched our VHS one so many times back in the day, it warped.

deborah said...

Vent away! I'll always read and agree with you:) We don't have a huge 'commercial' Christmas now, for which I'm very thankful...
Love the 'Wizard of Oz' - and its not so much the movie as the family time together

wv - foodupe - get the Thanksgiving foodupe and its Christmas!

Anonymous said...

So the Wizard of Oz was made the same year as the Gwynn's Island Bridge was built? Incredible. Maybe it was shown in the floating theater that visited the wharfs around here.

WV: ingerita=sweedish lass bringing a mexican drink.

Bayman

Mental P Mama said...

LOL @ Bayman....and I am on your side. So friggin over the rush to be all gadgety and all. Plus I started a new j-o-b today.....

Country Girl said...

No electric outlets? Must be fixed!!

I got some stuff done but it's not nearly enough. I can live with it, though. And you are not alone.