Thanksgiving Day holidays propel us ever faster into the thick of the many significant holidays. Can late December be far behind and Christmas and New Year’s? There will be Pearl Harbor’s Remembrance, December 7; Hanukkah, December 18-26; Kwanzaa, December 26-January 1, 2023. We always can find meaningful holidays.
Perhaps Thanksgiving Day should be at the top of the list because of the meaning within the word. We are giving thanks. We are giving of ourselves with an attitude of gratitude. If there are no days of thankfulness, it offers selfishness and not selflessness. Certainly all of us can find a sense of genuine gratitude. The day for family togetherness and celebration are essential whether the family has a genetic tie, or, if it includes similarities, a sense of cohesion, and interdependence. Many families go well beyond direct genetic ties and there is nothing wrong with it.
Happy Thanksgiving prior to or following the Thanksgiving Day can be permanent state of orientation. It does not have to just start and stop the fourth Thursday in November! We are all better off because of that attitude.
• Thanksgiving is a focal point for a special group to seek to help others, especially if they are less fortunate in their daily circumstances. Bless those who take it personally to help others. We know who many of them are in our orbit. Others within these pages this week are many in references on pages 3, 7, 17, 19, and all around us when take the time to look for many who help out of the goodness of their hearts. Those who truly give generously often are quiet, quintessential, caring. Seldom do they require praise or profit. We have to find a better world.
• The need for genuine help has increased for many persons in the last three years and for additional reasons. COVID-19 is one distraction and delay in personal improvement. It is out of the shocking headlines, however, there is a strain which is perpetual. Society grows apart in financial means, in part because many with wealth do not have a sense of seeking to share with society that existed many decades ago. Splits can occur in other relevant ways, to include politically, ethnically, geographically. Removing a sense of unity and purpose can place strains in many worlds. Less thankfulness is one method of de sensitivity.
• In making transitions to colder weather, shorter hours during the weeks, we endure many experiences. Sunlight is a factor. We have more than 16 hours of sun June 21 and slightly less than eight hours of sun December 21. It does not occur with a jolt, however, a few minutes added and subtracted gradually. Extra sunlight helps humans and the environment. We are linked together. Full, green growth, June 21 and a true absence of it December 21. Winter? Snow, ice, high winds, cold, are welcome when in retreat in the Spring. Best wishes to all of us for the next three to four to months in our geographic area.
General notes of importance regardless of the conditions in the air:
• The Oswego Police Department is advising the public that increased traffic can be expected in Oswego for the Oswego Christmas Walk activities Friday, Dec. 2. Delays will be especially noticed along U.S. Route 34 through downtown Oswego between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. and activities can be both delightful and distracting.
• Most communities offer both special Winter days of promotion for hometown business which can be fun as participants. Using the term Christmas often is viewed as a narrow promotion to exclude other related words and individuals, however, Christmas is a reality, just not to be used excessively. Understanding the strength of communities is omnipresent and essential.
• A habitat restoration work day will be held at the Bliss Woods Forest Preserve from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 26. Wearing sturdy gloves is for collecting and distributing native seeds and cutting and stacking invasive woody plants. Send to Mary Ochsenschlager at maryoxie@sbcglobalnet, or call Robb, at the Kane County Forest Preserve at 630-232-5980.