Festivus vs. Decorated Trees #ThursdayTreeLove

Today is Festivus.

Festivus may be the only holiday created by a TV show, a Seinfeld episode from 1997 called "The Strike".  I don't formally celebrate it, although I used to know a couple of people who do. But this year, for some reason, it doesn't appeal to me.

Festivus is a secular holiday for the "rest of us". Turns out it was based on a "holiday" celebration celebrated by the family of one of Seinfeld's writers, Dan O'Keefe.   It's something that people needing an alternative to Christmas can turn to.   Christmas, for me, has not been the happiest of occasions for a lot of years.  But even years ago, I never bought into the pressure many people put themselves under, and I certainly don't want to start now. 

For those not familiar with Festivus:  Festivus is celebrated every December 23.  As outlined in the Seinfeld episode, it has several rituals.

First is the Festivus pole, always made of aluminum.  It is undecorated, as opposed to a Christmas tree.  But strong.  It should have a "high strength to length ratio".  No tinsel is allowed.

When spouse and I went to the Roberson Museum and Science Center's Home for the Holidays display, there were no Festivus trees.  Not surprising, as no one is interested in an aluminum pole.

Next comes the Festivus dinner.  At the beginning of the dinner is the Airing of Grievances.  "I've got a lot of problems with you people, and now you're going to hear about it!" is how it begins.

Each participant then tells each family member and friend how that person disappointed him/her.  However, if you extended this to other aspects of life...well, again it may just be pandemic burnout, but I could really dump on some aspects of my daily life. The airing of grievances is a welcome change from the constant "be grateful for your life!" refrain you hear every day.  Things wrap up, after a dinner of meatloaf and peas, with "Feats of Strength" where the host of the dinner is pinned to the ground.

But this is where I part company with Festivus.  Maybe in some years we need an airing of grievances and a wrestling match. This year, though, is special.  We need to be kind to one another, because too many of us seem to have abandoned all attempts at civility.

This year, too, we need our decorated trees.  Although these trees (I am assuming) are artificial, I'd like to post them for Parul at Happiness and Food and her Thursday Tree Love.  

These, like others I have posted recently, can be found at Home for the Holidays at the Roberson Museum and Science Center in Binghamton, New York.

So many of our trees at this time of year, where I live in the Southern Tier of New York State, are bare.  So many days are cloudy.  It's snowing today.

Trees decorated by nature are just as pretty, are they not?  Here are a couple of pictures from this morning.

A little hard to see but there are several trees here.  The bare one in front with the red "berries" is a native cherry tree.  There's a mix of evergreen and bare in back.

The trees patiently endure our winter and come back from their sleep in the spring, ready to give us another year of pleasure.  If only we had their patience!

Perhaps we will wake up, one day, and find that the pandemic and the breakdown of so much we hold dear was just a bad dream.  I doubt it, though.

Festivus is for the rest of us.  But maybe not this year.  Instead, let's love and give thanks for our trees.

Joining #ThursdayTreeLove, hosted by Parul at Happiness and Food every second and fourth Thursday.