Friday, November 21, 2014

Thanksgiving Thoughts--End Black Friday Mission Creep Expand Thanks and Giving


As we check the waistlines and prepare to enter the caloric Twilight Zone
A thought on Thanksgiving as friends and family will soon be in our homes
Thanksgiving is celebrated only on the fourth Thursday of the 11th month of the year
As a feast of turkey, yams, mashed potatoes and all manner of dishes appear
Food is the universal solvent and even water and spirits it trumps
Hard to argue or fight, when the turkey is moist and the gravy without clumps
Awash in the aroma and warmth of friends and family one devours until totally sate
Resting and nibbling on the pie until the host decides it’s time to clean the pots and clear the plates
No matter the division and rancor thousands of miles away in beltway land
Everyone into the kitchen together as one to lend a cleaning and scrubbing hand
We as a nation have a lot to be thankful for, not the least of which are the freedoms most in the world seek
If you doubt it, just look at the numbers of people heading to our shores, voting with their feet
Millions hiding in the shadows would have left a long time ago
As opposed to enduring the daily fear of the undocumented woes
Later, reclining on the sofas with eyelids fighting the urge to close from the tryptophans triggered by the high carb load
Wondering if you will find the energy to get up and get back to return on the open road
An idea for all to replicate--the being thankful and giving human feat
Not just on this special day, but on each and every day on your short term uncertain lease to greet
We may be in this nation of different backgrounds, political colors, races and creeds
But more so than ever, some unity in the boat on the oars in troubled waters is what we need
Read the Boys in the Boat and you get a sense that life like rowing requires a team
Oars on the left, oars on the right in unison, together to pursue and win the golden dream
Go down a river with rapids Class VI in a seven person raft
Unless paddling together for a common goal, the river flips you and gives you the shaft
So too in D.C.; time to find the oars of compromise
Time to replace the paddles of the other side demonize
To a lighter note, since Thanksgiving is not yet here
A note to allay one’s overeating preobesity fears
The big box retailers have discovered the means to get all on a diet
And as an added bonus to them prevent the Black Friday opening riots
Open early Thursday afternoon when shoppers will be still so sated they can hardly move, barely able to push and claw and from others snatch
While hopefully, the sane stay home with peaceful and thankful thoughts, good companionship-- all better than any sale and looking forward to the land of Nod to be dispatched
Better to spend afternoon and evening hours with persons you love and adore
Than fighting for a few dollars of savings with rabid crowds in the big box stores
Better to create warm memories that have a chance to last and to have grown
Than save a few dollars on gifts that are soon discarded and into the trash thrown.
© November 21, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
Alaskanpoet for Hire, Poems to Admire
Poet Extraordinaire Beyond Compare
Rhymes on the Memorable Times
The Perfect Gift, All Recipients to Receive a Lasting Lift      

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