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Wordgirl had a November 1 panic attack about the upcoming holiday season. She’s drowning in household detritus, hosting her family for Thanksgiving, and thinking ahead to the commercial whirlwind of Christmas.

For me, Thanksgiving is a holiday that has ceased to exist. It’s not celebrated here in Belgium, and while I can drive to an American military commissary and buy all the ingredients for a traditional dinner, I don’t bother. Thanksgiving is a holiday that just doesn’t translate well in a foreign setting. Kinda like Fourth of July. Our policy on Thanksgiving is to plan a big trip for that week and forget the holiday exists. It keeps us from getting lonely and long-faced, huddled around a small turkey on a week day while the rest of Europe engages in business as usual.

No, Thanksgiving is causing me no pain this year, but Christmas is already knocking on my door. In less than two weeks I have to have all the Christmas presents we’re sending to the States wrapped and shipped. No I’m not joking. We use the military mail system which allows us to avoid international postage costs while mailing and shipping things back and forth between here and America. Needless to say, there are certain times of year the system gets overloaded and backs up, and Christmas is one of them. If you want to be absolutely sure your packages arrive on time, you need to mail them before Veteran’s Day.

Now I’ve always been a nerdy overachiever when it comes to Christmas shopping. I like to spread the expense and the work of it out over a number of months and avoid setting foot in a store during the December rush, but even an early bird like me is struggling with the idea of having to wrap and package and ship in early November. This weekend, with the pumpkins still on the porch, I’ll be burning a balsam-scented candle and trying to conjure some pre-emptive holiday cheer. Wish me luck.

November 2, 2006