Reception

This last Thursday was another chance to engage in the most reverent of holiday traditions. I've thought this through carefully and I do believe that I now favor Thanksgiving for its events more than any holiday. To expound:

Christmas - Not the thrill it used to be. It may just be that I'm still single at 33, with no dwelling of my very own, and no immediate family to "gear up" for Christmas with. So I don't engage in the post-Thanksgiving decorating, no tree, no lights, to get me in the mood. No Christmas shopping with loved ones, I don't much like Christmas music, and I honestly don't even really attend many Christmas parties or holiday get-togethers. When Christmas finally arrives, for most people, it's the culmination of a month of anticipation. For me, it's a day off.

Easter - Another day off. Church + dinner. Maybe someday I'll color eggs with my kids. Even that is a 50/50 proposition...

4th of July - Why have I lost my appreciation of fireworks? I'm really not sure. Can they "all look the same" when you only get to see them once or twice a year? Evidently so, because when the city of Lansing was shooting them off at the lighting of the Christmas tree last week, I was only a block away, but was more interested in vaccuming my store then going outside to view the spectacle.

So now I'm in a place where the most sacred of holiday traditions occurs on Thanksgiving, as family gathers close and dinner plates are passed. Everyone comes together to count our blessings.... and I remove myself to participate in the holy holiday ritual of Lions football.

I remember fondly, even in the golden days, the smaller customs that accompanied this tradition. My mother imploring me to quit isolating myself and come downstairs for dinner, my brothers joining me for all of about five minutes (the most football they could handle), banging with frustration on the TV for better reception out on the farm, and of course, Lion deficits of 10, 17, or 24 points. All of these cherished memories add up to incite even more excitement for the new chapters I will add to this annual rite each year.

As a final demonstration of how truly magnificent this convention has become, I will leave you with the most innovative and humorous of the new beer ad campaigns debuted on this year's games: