In wanting to get my Jottings out before Thanksgiving Day, so I could wish you all a “Happy Thanksgiving”, I overlooked one of our annual celebrations, which occurs on that day, “The Turkey Trot!” It was brought to my mind by an article in the St, Petersburg Times on Monday, November 24th announcing the “Times Turkey Trot celebrates its 30th anniversary this year”! We as a family have celebrated with a Turkey Trot for some years now. Before that I recall running on Thanksgiving morn with some guys, like Bill King, to soothe our conscience when we stuffed ourselves later that day. We use to run on the Wissahickon Trail in Pennypack Park and usually had as many as a dozen runners participate. Sometime later in the 80’s I believe there was an organized run in Fairmont Park called the “Turkey Trot”. I believe it is a five-mile distance. So we joined in doing that run. We soon had sons, daughters, grandchildren and neighbors with us and it grew to a Paul McSorley Family tradition. The article I referred to above from the Times, said somewhat the same. “Everyone is at a different level and interest in running, they will be here to participate. That’s what great about the trot; it’s a great family tradition.”
A neighbor of many years and a fellow runner, Paul Keeley, always makes the trot one of his runs. He has also been a cameraman for the run. I hear from him shortly after the run with a report of whom was there and that pictures are on the way! The Trot in St. Petersburg, attracts up to 14,000 people in four separate runs: The Wingding, a 5 K at 7:15 AM; Fun Run of 5K for walkers, joggers and strollers, at 7:30 AM; The Gobbler, 1 mile fitness run/walk at 8:30 AM; and The Turkey Trot a 10K at 8:45 AM. It raises $30,000 approximately each year and it goes to local charities. The Turkey Trot in Philly is not quite that extensive but is a good way to celebrate Thanksgiving with all of your gang. Try it! Running had been a major activity in my life. From 1971 to 1981 when I ran several marathons and even did two 50 K’s (31+ miles). Then from 1981 to 1996 I ran no more marathons but a lot of lesser distance races. Since then till early this year, 2008, I walked but slowly I began to develop a breathing problem and now I’m down to only a shuffle! In addition to slowing down my walking I have had to add oxygen in some form to keep it up. Seems there is a twist of some sort at the end of an aortic valve and it is reducing the amount of blood that can be sent around the body. Thus we have a reduction of oxygen. But when I see others my age and some younger with walkers and canes I am still grateful for the ability to do as I can.
December for me always raises thoughts about how our calendar came to be as it is. I remember Decem as the Latin word for ‘ten’. So how did it become the name for the twelfth month of the year? Then there is Nova, nine, Octo, eight, Sept, seven… all preceding the Tenth month, December?
The calendar for most of the old world, as I read a bit of its history, was based on the lunar cycles and maybe that’s why when you read in the bible that the Jewish had their days starting at night, when the moon rose. Somewhere along the way it got adjusted apparently due to the lunar calendar not including a January and February due to snow and bad weather limiting the sighting of the moon. The Romans only had ten months for a year plus that winter period, which was later, called, January and February. The lunar year only had 354.37 days and finally a Roman King called Numa added the additional days to the year. The seventh and eighth months are named for emperors Julius and Augustus. January is there to show the start of the New Year. Janus was a god looking both forward and backwards. February was the name of a purification feast Februaris that had been held in that month. I didn’t go into where March, April, May and June came from. Finally in the medieval ages Pope Gregory straightened it all out so that we now have the calendar we use. Even though we call the twelfth month by the word meaning ten, I am sure you can all sleep better now that you know a bit about how the calendar got to the way it is now!
When we think of December we most always think of “Christmas” It is the time to celebrate the birth of Christ. The event as recorded tells us that the angels announcing to the news to the shepherds said they “bring news of great joy” so we should celebrate. We give gifts and rejoice in thanks for his coming. The author of the best seller, “A Purpose Driven Life” Rick Warren, has written a book called the “The Purpose of Christmas”. In it he muses, “If you stop to think about it, it is astounding that the simple, unassuming birth of a peasant boy born two thousand years ago in the Middle East has caused such commotion. His birthday event causes traffic jams today in places like New York City, Tokyo, and Rio de Janeiro.”
Unfortunately early in the month we celebrate another day, Pearl Harbor Day called a “Day of Infamy” by President Roosevelt. I was only twelve years old when it happened. It put a dimmer on any Christmas spirit since we had two brothers in the Philippine Island, which were invaded and bombed also on the same day. We know our Mom and Dad were concerned and could see it in their actions and speaking even though we went on with the regular Christmas routine. We would hear nothing about them for at least a year and then only learn the Japanese had interned them both. By strange coincidence, as we have probably mentioned before, another brother, John who was then in the Marine Corps, ended up meeting his two older brothers and having a picture taken that went around the world via newspapers. Another thought about the event is that it caused the Congress to declare war against Japan and her allies. I think historically that is the last time that Congress exercised it constitutional power to do so. Korea came as a result of being a member of the United Nations, and since then it seems to have just disappeared.
“X” means an ‘unknown or unspecified number of persons” (Oxford Dictionary, American Edition) In the Greek alphabet the letter could stand for ‘chi’ or ‘khi’. So how did “Merry Christmas” get to be “Merry Xmas”? The simple answer is ‘to take Christ out of Christmas’ Some suggest it is just a substituting for the English word “Christ” with the Greek word “chi’
of Christ. My thought is that it is clearly an attempt to overcome those 2000 years that Rick Warren refers to. It is also attempting to be done to our historic abbreviations for BC and AD, i.e. Before Christ and Year of our Lord. They now want them to read “Before the Common Era” and the “Common Era” How can we call all that’s happened since the birth of Christ ‘common’ ? Common means ‘occurring often’ or ‘ordinary’ So how do we make things like the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, the Industrial Revolution, the Renaissance, the Reformation, etc. all ‘common’ or ‘ordinary’ events? To do so makes a mockery of history and all that has come before our age. But it is just another way to try to take Christ out of history and out of Christmas. To me trying to think of Columbus discovering American in 1492 of the Common Era sounds and is ridiculous. So as with most, I’m sticking with BC as Before Christ and AD the year of our Lord.
December also means that the year is coming to an end. Before you know it, it will be 2009 AD. We are all one year older and hopefully one year wiser. In fact there’s an adage, which says something like ‘with age comes wisdom’, I can assure you in my case it still hasn’t happened. I can say however with age come physical difficulties to some. It reminds me of another crack I heard, ‘the Golden Years ain’t for sissies!” I never could figure out who decided to call these times of age, ‘golden’.
Until next time! Pax Tecum!