Is Thanksgiving Old-Fashioned?

Then.

Now. (I love the bacon wrap!)

It's ironic that although this year I'm more distracted than ever from the holidays because I'm writing a book for NaNoWriMo and writing a book about writing a book for NaNoWriMo (a meta-NaNo book, if you will), I'm also thinking deeply about holiday traditions because that's the setting of my novels.

The Halloween story is  the easiest for me, which is great, since that's what I've started with. The Christmas story, I think I can also handle. But if I write three books in the series -- even if each one is standalone -- I think it would make sense to go: October Knight, November Knight and December Knight.

The obvious holiday associated with November for my California-based teens is Thanksgiving. I explain in the world-building that which local holidays are linked to the Gates differ around the world; it's not that everyone in their universe celebrates the American Thanksgiving or even Halloween or Christmas.

So far, so good... but Thanksgiving is not a holiday bursting with story-associations for me. What I am going to have ... ghost Pilgrims and Indian spirits? Um, that could get awkward and weird fast, given the political and historical ramifications. It turns out that some people HATE Thanksgiving...


Writing In The Crosshairs: WHY THANKSGIVING?:

I think Angelina Jolie is beautiful, you all know that. Her humanitarian efforts on behalf of the world's children touches my Lakota spirit.

Then, I discovered Angelina Jolie hates Thanksgiving...
 
According to some sources, Angelina Jolie is so disgusted by "Thanksgiving", she takes her kids out of the country so they are not around the madness that is embodied in the holiday.

And sadly, the records prove her right about the genocide of those Indians by the pilgrims AFTER Thanksgiving: the first true Black Friday.

Does Angelina Jolie have a point, or has she completely missed the point of having a holiday just to remind ourselves to be grateful for the blessings in our lives? What do you think?

For me, Thanksgiving is a more healing holiday than what Christmas has degenerated into today:

Thanksgiving is a holiday that is all about counting our blessings and sharing a meal with loved ones. It is not about presents and shopping and commercialism... 

However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized, there are people who hate Halloween and Christmas too. Maybe not the same people. But every holiday worth celebrating has its army of naysayers. Why? I have no idea.... in my story, however, it's probably because they are Evil Joy-Stealing Demons.

I'll be honest: I love holidays. I love traditions and pageants and an excuse to eat food not on my diet. Holidays are always being renewed and if the old meanings and associations are no longer what we want to emphasize, we can make new ones. It doesn't me we trash the whole holiday.

The question: Is Thanksgiving too old-fashioned? got me thinking, meanwhile, and I now have a premise for November Knight...