In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated at harvest-time, on
October 12th, rather than a week before the first month of winter in
the Northern Hemisphere. For the States south of Canada, whether their
respective peoples are cold or warm on the third Thursday in November, the
holiday’s date is etched in stone, given the illustrious aura of the U.S.
president who had enshrined the date in the midst of a horrendous war between
the USA and CSA in the 1860s. Few people would dare even entertain the natural
assimilation of Columbus Day and Thanksgiving Day on October 12th.
So, well after harvest in most of the States and bunched in with Christmas and
New Years—effectively ridding the latter of any left-over enthusiasm—people in
the States in the northern climes are consigned to stuff themselves like Turkey
birds while the surviving natural turkeys shiver outside. Human nature itself
may be hardwired against change, and the massive scale of modern political
association may exacerbate the paralysis.
The full essay is at "Stifling Change."
