my annual holiday rants . . .

My neighbors put up their outdoor Christmas decorations yesterday. It's not even Thanksgiving. Can't we please wait?!?!?! Why do we have to rush into Christmas before we have had a chance to give our thanks for all of the years blessings?

OK, maybe it is a particularly sore subject with me because I love Thanksgiving so much. It is my favorite holiday . . . bar none. Christmas is nice but Thanksgiving, with all the family settled in around a bountiful table, just warms my heart. No one expects presents. No one has to spend a fortune. We just enjoy.

End of that rant and on to the next:

Seasons Greetings. I have come to despise that tiny two word sentence. I celebrate Christmas. One of the things I love about the end of December is the ability to wave to a friend and wish them Merry Christmas. It is a reminder of what Christmas means to me. Seasons Greetings is politically correct but oh so benign. Wish me Merry Christmas when the time comes. Please.

Now I am not so narrow that I don't realize that there are other faiths celebrating their special rituals as well and nothing warms my heart again, as much as being able to wish a Jewish friend, Happy Hanukkah. I want them to enjoy their faith. I want to share if I can. And if by chance, someone wishes me Happy Hanukkah or Happy Kwanzaa. Hooray! I totally get that they are passing their feeling of warmth and pride to me and mine. What a wonderful sharing. The generic Seasons Greetings falls quite flat.

So when I go grocery shopping and someone calls out Seasons Greetings, I wave and wish them Merry Christmas. If I goof and they are not of the Christian faith, I hope they understand that I just want to share good cheer, my jubilation, my wishes for a blessed day.

I understand that many store employees have been instructed to use the more PC verbiage but I love how in response to my greetings, heads come up, eyes meet and out pops: Merry Christmas to you too. So I am not alone in this rant.

And in case I don't get to see you over the holiday, Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas one and all . . .