Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Today I went to the mall with Robbie and Jessica. We had a good time, checking out the tree (definitely fake) and learning that at Short Pump there is a switch to turn on the giant fire pits (though anyone can turn them on). We noted that, with Thanksgiving just around the corner, it was on the edge of being okay to celebrate the imminent arrival of Christmas. Not actually okay in my mind, but close to it.

The problem being that the "holiday" section in stores has been carrying Christmas stuff since, oh, about Labor Day. Perhaps not that long, but it feels like it. You sort of feel bad for Thanksgiving. No one really decorates for it anymore, and it just gets wedged in there between Halloween and Christmas. While it is not as important a holiday as Christmas, I would argue it's more important than Halloween...giving thanks for all that we have is something that we don't seem to do as often as we really should.

Of course, Christmas seems to hold its own against New Years pretty well. You see stuff for that cropping up in the stores in mid-December, but Christmas decorations are still holding full court. I feel like if Christmas wasn't the dominant holiday in the calendar (what else really matches it?) we would be buying heart shaped Reese's cups right now (you have to love the holiday themed Reese's...I'll say no more).

The problem, it seems to me, is that too many big holidays are all jammed together. Let's look at the calendar, conveniently arranged (and I'm referring only to large, secularized holidays that involve significant public observance and celebration):

October: Halloween
November: Thanksgiving
December: Christmas
January: New Year's
February: Valentine's
March: St. Patrick's Day*
April: Easter
May:
June:
July: 4th of July
August:
September:
*Jon argued for the inclusion of St. Patrick's Day. It might not quite fit the description, but I will let it in for now. Mainly because it bolsters my argument. Good research methods there, right?

So we have 6-7 months of solid holidays (note that Halloween is almost in November) and then it's as though over the summer the holidays take a...holiday... Here is my proposal:

January: New Year's
February:
March: St. Patrick's Day
April: Easter
May:
June: Halloween
July: 4th of July
August:
September: Valentine's
October:
November: Thanksgiving
December: Christmas

This spreads it out nicely - it's light later for Halloween (and warmer), and let's face it, Valentine's Day is currently in a month when it's generally cold and miserable. Given, Thanksgiving might still get edged out by Christmas, but at least Halloween wouldn't be taking away its time in the spotlight.

I hope everyone is looking forward to a Happy Thanksgiving!