Winter Says Hello

Tags

cold, prescott az, prescott high school, storms, weather

Winter Says Hello 2, a photo by dagnyg on Flickr.

A late autumn storm in Prescott, Az. Clouds, rain, cold – winter is saying “hello”. Taken with an iPhone while walking the dogs near the Prescott High School, looking south. Not visible in this photo, there was a little snow on some of the high peaks south of town.
When I lived in NY much of the autumn and winter looked like this.

Annie and Stacy in a Pile

Tags

dog pile, Dogs

Annie and Stacy in a Pile, a photo by dagnyg on Flickr.

Last night while we were watching TV Annie (black lab) decided to snooze one the couch. Stacy (rat terrier) thought she’d join in. They made a nice dog pile. I did not pose them like this, it was all their doing. I took the photo with my iPhone.

Corporate Greed Monster Takes a Bite out of Thanksgiving

Tags

consumerism, corporate greed, holidays, thanksgiving

An article in yesterdays Daily Courier http://www.prescottaz.com/main.asp?SectionID=260&SubSectionID=1148&ArticleID=125666 listed some big box stores that are going to be open on Thanksgiving day. Some will be opening in the evening on Thanksgiving, others disrespecting the holiday for the entire day. Some have employees working voluntarily for a higher wage that day, but for a low wage retail worker struggling to keep up with inflation how voluntary can it be?

I find this trend disturbing. Executives raking in millions while many formerly middle class families struggle, small locally owned business having to ape the big box boys to stay afloat. Why not slow down, disconnect for a day or two or four, enjoy the company of family and friends for the Holiday? That, to me, is what it’s about. I can wait a day or two to buy Chinese imports that I don’t need with money I don’t have. If we shop on Thanksgiving Day we are literally buying into this rabid consumerism.

Me, I’ll be having a meal with my husband and some family from his side. Turkey. Ham. Sweet potatoes. And probably too large of a portion of each.

The only holiday not consumed by the corporate greed monster is Christmas Day. Even Wal-Mart is closed for Christmas. Will it last, will Christmas Day remain a real holiday in the face of corporate greed, raging consumerism, and creeping secularism?