Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite holiday? Why is it your favorite?
Favourite holiday.... now who doesn't enjoy a holiday?
Yes, it will be for some people difficult or virtually impossible to enjoy any holiday celebration due to many factors including not having those we love with us anymore or maybe due to past bad family experiences.
But, for the majority holidays bring a massive amount of enjoyment and pleasure. We'll leave the often stress-filled bits out of the discussion for today.
In Canada, I'm not sure exactly how many holidays we actually have where one might actually get the day off work. And it can even vary between provinces and it can vary even with what they are called.
But, having said all of that, I think the spirit of the prompt from where I sit, is asking(at least asking me), "What is your favourite holiday of the so-called big ones?"
Holidays serve and celebrate a variety of elements, with some of them coming from a very religious or spiritual perspective. They also draw families together for meals, and parties and the exceedingly important function of creating memories together as a family unit.
For myself, the holidays that are my favourite and in no particular order are Christmas and Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving in Canada always falls on the second Monday in October.
It is one of my favourites, because often the other holidays that we celebrate and especially during the summer, tend to be nothing more than opportunities to yes "get together" - but they often tend to be the only needed excuse to go to a cottage, camping or someone's house for not much more than a BBQ and drunk-fest. Now, I get it that the last bit is a huge over-generalization, but the summer statutory holidays do often for some have a major party element attached to them.
But, back to Thanksgiving. I like it because in our family it tends to be a very relaxed and "chill" long weekend. The perfect time for long walks or hikes through a forest or along the waterfront or perhaps an afternoon drive to a quaint village to check out a bakery or some local unique shops. In October and depending on when the actual date of the holiday is, the leaves will be changing to brilliant reds, orange and yellows. There can often be a slight chill in the air, so after a time outside, the smell of roasting turkey in the oven and a table overflowing with a bountiful harvest, makes a perfect setting to gather family together.
I have always enjoyed Christmas. Sure, it is the over-commercialized often out-of-control frenzy of spending and stuff. But, if you know that going into it and not getting sucked into the out-of-control over-spending craziness, then it's the best time of the year.
I enjoy and I should say we enjoy Christmas, because of the excitement it creates. Christmas lights(we love lights), Christmas displays(right up there as well) and insane busyness that surrounds the season. We live in a fairly small community of about 1200 folks. It can be pretty quiet here, even around the holidays. All of which is fine - to an extent. And I get people love the "quietness." I like quiet - quiet is good.
But what I relish is the excitement and the "breathing entity" of a large city that is alive with people; people doing things. Halifax is that.
Strolling through many of the retail areas downtown on a relatively pleasant Saturday afternoon or Friday evening in December when the streets a filled with people or having the waterfront is alive ..... makes me alive.
The big thing that makes Christmas special to me is the traditions our family has and does each year at that time. Searching for those truly unique gifts; going to a tree farm and cutting a Christmas tree; always playing the same music when decorating the tree; and going crazy with "stocking stuffers." Traditions and memories are what Christmas is to us. We take our traditions very seriously. Traditions are often the glue that brings family back together, even after decades.
When we can't remember what we got for Christmas when we were seventeen, let alone four years ago, we do remember the traditions of whatever they may be. The unique traditions each family creates and the memories that go along with them, can often be greater than the holiday itself.
Traditions - a good thing.
--as always with love--
--- get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself ---
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