Weekend Pick: Buy that turkey a thank you gift

The Christmas season officially starts with Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade today. Oh, wait, I’m not in New York City this year. Okay, I’ll say Des Moines beat New York to the punch with a record-breaking, 4.8-inch, day-before-Thanksgiving snowfall. That’s as good a signal of Christmas approaching as is Macy’s Santa Claus. I have mixed opinions about Christmas Day but I choose to accept the Christmas season as a time to emphasize joy of and kindness towards each other. Thus, a “Merry Christmas” may be interpreted as a celebration of Christ’s birth or it may be given and accepted as a seasonal thank you. If there is a drawing for Secret Santas, though, you’re on your own.

Being an advocate of public transportation, I have a challenge for shoppers. Thanksgiving is relatively early this year, so there are plenty of extra days in which to shop for Christmas presents. On one of your outings, leave the car at home and take the bus. Calculate how much money you save by not driving your car, e.g., reducing the odds of an icy crash and avoiding $3.00 a gallon gasoline. Use the savings to buy yourself a special stocking stuffer. Because you will not have a car in which to toss packages and you will have to carry whatever you buy on and off of a bus, you may find yourself re-thinking your gift ideas. Heck, maybe you will decide to give someone who keeps talking about possibly taking the bus to work a nice beverage container or a brief case. Here’s a bit of advice: a canvas bag helps with the schlepping of gifts.

If free entertainment and avoidance of any place that has more than one person waiting at a cash register is more your speed, the Des Moines Public Library has a few options. On Friday, November 23rd, at 2:00 p.m., Charlotte’s Web will be the movie at Franklin Avenue (5000 Franklin Avenue) and Ratatouille will be shown at the East Side branch (2559 Hubbell Avenue). On Saturday, the 24th, the Central Library (1000 Grand) will show A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving at 10:00 a.m. On Friday morning, 10:00 a.m. to noon, at the Central Library there will be Thanksgiving Break Craft Time for all ages. For Central Library activities, the phone number to use in pre-registering is (515) 283-4152, ext. 3.

A Fall Into Winter Family Festival will be held at the State Historical Building (6th and East Locust) on Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. This free event is sponsored by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield. There will be a fiddle and banjo band to which to dance, weavers and other crafts folks to observe, and wreaths and squirrel, er, I mean bird, feeders to build, among other activities.

Temperatures on Saturday and on Sunday have been forecasted to be above freezing. If you haven’t already, check your winter preparations for your sidewalk, your car (or other transportation), and your residence.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.