I love Thanksgiving.
I hate Auburn, but I love Thanksgiving.
Too many people view Thanksgiving as "the gateway holiday," the Thursday through which they must pass before they can go hog-wild over Christmas. I know plenty of folks who go out and get a tree on Thanksgiving weekend or who contribute to the madness that will make this Friday the busiest shopping day of the year.
Those folks are missing the boat.
Relax, everybody. Can we agree as a people to let the Christmas season begin on December 1? Is the hype machine so cranked into overdrive that we have to get started more than a month in advance?
Remain calm! All is well!
Don't get me wrong; I enjoy Christmas immensely . . . in fact, I have enjoyed Christmas substantially more since becoming a father than I have since I was a child. I just don't happen to be in any great hurry to get to it. Trust me, it'll be here soon enough. For now . . . enjoy Thanksgiving.
You have food, family, and football. You have fare that is both traditional and delicious. You have a patriotic historical celebration and a prayerful religious observance that is nonsectarian without being secular and solemn without being somber. You have the one day a year when overeating and falling asleep on the couch are not only acceptable, but expected. If you're a Southerner, you have the added satisfaction of getting to debunk all that made-up pilgrim nonsense and let folks know that Thanksgiving is yet another thing the South invented for which New England claims the credit.
If you're in a hurry to bring that to an end so you can go traipsing through the woods in the freezing cold to find the perfect fire hazard with which to spread parched needles all over your carpet, there's something seriously wrong with you. If you'd rather forego an extra weekday's worth of football to go shopping with a million other lunatics, you need to seek professional help.
Even Brodie and T.S. know better than to go to the mall on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
As for me, I love Thanksgiving.
Since I've already done the whole Furman Bisher bit, I won't take up your time with the calling of the roll. I will simply say that, rather than exchange sophomoric insults or trade constructive criticisms, I will instead devote the day to the purpose for which it was intended . . . expressing our gratitude, individually and collectively, for the blessings that have been bestowed upon us and appreciating all that our God, our country, and our families have given us.
You can check back tomorrow for my statistical breakdown of the Georgia-Georgia Tech game, but, for now, kick back, relax, return thanks, and enjoy the day.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Go 'Dawgs!