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Tag Archives: holiday
New Year’s Resolutions: A Tradition
By : Damien Knight
Before I list my New Year’s resolutions for this year, I want to give you this post. Another one of my holiday histories.
New Year’s resolutions are nearly as old as New Year itself. It dates back to almost 4000 years back to the kingdom of Babylon. Babylonian New Year was celebrated during the feast time Akitu. It was during Akitu new kings would be crowned or oaths to old kings were sworn. They also would swear oaths to their gods. These oaths often included promises to pay debts.
Follow Friday: Happy Holidays!
By Damien Knight
December moved fast and Social Saturday will once more not happen. Tomorrow the Lair Family will be visiting extended family. In the meantime you can look forward to Story Sunday where I post “The Year I got Cat Litter for Christmas”. Also here is a link to the Shadow Lair Children Unwrapping Christmas Gifts. Shadow Lair Christmas!
and Christmas Part 2. Thanks for following.
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Motivational Monday: Christmas Trees
By Damien Knight
Every year on the 15th of December my father, a short man, would go out and pick a live tree that often was 2 feet taller than he was. He would proudly haul this tree up four flights of stairs and into the apartment. The pine smelt amazing, and you could tell our father worked hard to pick the best tree.
My favourite tree was the one he hauled up those stairs, got it to the door, and in the house only to stand it up and it didn’t fit. We had to trim the top it was so tall. While I have never purchased a live tree, I cherished those memories and know Christmas is a time of celebration. Happy Yule, Merry Christmas, and a Cheerful Holiday to all my readers this year!
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Why I Won’t Be Cooking Turkey
By Damien Knight
(Originally written Nov 2016)
Every year someone asks what my family is doing for Thanksgiving. While I do in fact celebrate Thanksgiving I find the origin taught to us as children horrific. When we were kids, we were told Thanksgiving was a time where the Pilgrims and Natives met and held a party celebrating shared success. The truth is, when Pilgrims came to American shores many did not survive the boat ride. Many more starved to death over their first winter.
The Pilgrims were not the first settlers from Europe at this point. Squanto, of the Wampanoag tribe, spoke English. He was the one to contact the Pilgrims. The Wampanoag were not just being kind ‘savages’ they were wary. Still they taught the Pilgrims how to grow food and Thanksgiving came and they met not to celebrate shared success but to sign a treaty, a treaty giving Pilgrims the land they lived on.
What did the Natives get in return? Smallpox, betrayal, whitewashing of American history? All of that. So while yes I celebrate with my parents I have not myself cooked a Thanksgiving turkey. My own children are Abenaki blood as is my spouse and I feel celebrating the genocide of their people is an insult. I’ll be thankful that more and more people are learning the truth. I will be thankful for my family and my kids. I am not proud of our history, but I hope that we learn from it and not repeat it.
The Shade of Writing 