Happy Thanksgiving!

What can they be thinking? It wasn't even Thanksgiving yet when this reindeer scene was installed (don't get me wrong, I like reindeer). Maybe next year, they'll get the decorations up on the 4th of July - or just leave them up all year.

This traffic island at 15th Street welcomes people coming into town from the east (coming towards us) on Highway 30 and lets them know they're entering a National Register Historic District. There's an artistic welcome sign behind the reindeer and facing the other direction, which I'll save for another post. We're seeing it now from the downtown side. The island is the dividing point for Commercial Street (going our direction on the right) and Marine Drive (coming towards us from Portland and pionts east) on the left.

Whatever you're doing, whether celebrating Thanksgiving or not, celebrating some other holiday, or having a normal Thursday around the world, I hope your day is happy. Don't mind my snippy comment too much, OK? I just wish they'd wait till after Thanksgiving to start in with the Christmas mood. Isn't timeliness kind of special? I remember I anticipated my mom beginning to take the Christmas decorations down from the high shelf in the bedroom and transform the house into a magical wonderland. It was a special time, and maybe more-so because it was of short duration. Here in Astoria, there is a manger scene at the other end of town already and rainproof candy canes along Commercial Street. Call me Scrooge. I like turkeys in their season, and I like the winter holidays in their own time.