The happiest time of the year has fallen upon the United States like the Autumn leaves billowing down from trees. It is Thanksgiving season and time for two things, and two things only: good food and great football. The National Football League and National Collegiate Athletic Association football seasons are in full swing, and every true American should be preparing to plop down on the couch, eat too much turkey, and watch an entire day filled with wonderful football.

Families across the nation, including my own, are drawn to local parks in the crisp fall air to play an annual Turkey Bowl; our own version of the football games we will enjoy watching later in the day.

There is no better feeling than going home following an awesome family football game, taking a hot shower, and going headlong into fulfilling one’s duty of cramming the remainder of the day watching hours of delightful bone crushing football on TV.

Others have different intentions. As soon as the first leaf falls, the hum of antiquated Christmas songs fills the autumn air. Before the first flake of snow strikes the earth, we see candy canes and little Santas popping up in stores and front yards.

It is November, and it is far too early to begin celebrating, let alone, thinking about Christmas. In fact, Christmas, and the accompanying winter holidays, are undeniably inferior to Thanksgiving.

You could argue whether or not Thanksgiving’s turkey, mashed potatoes, cornbread, and apple pie beats Christmas’ similar menu. But, what is absolutely true is the manner in which we eat at Thanksgiving is far superior to the way we enjoy meals during Christmas, hands down. Christmas may be a merry holiday, but it is enjoyed in a rigid structure around a formal table, enjoyed within boundaries. Thanksgiving, by contrast, is enjoyed sprawled in front of theTV, surrounded by family, and with no limits. You can stuff your face with endless amounts of food, and you don’t have to think twice about it. It is a holiday of wonderful, care-free, indulgence, and it is beautiful.

The Christmas fanatics can’t even give us Thanksgiving people time to digest our food before rushing the streets to fill their shopping carts with Black-Friday Christmas presents. Society is reduced to a pack of animals clawing their way to the newest and best products in the name of Christ.

While I do not celebrate Christmas, living in a world that is obsessed with it has given me all I need to know about it. My opinion on the topic wouldn’t change if every time you read Christmas it was replaced with the word Hanukkah.

However, I do not hate Christmas. In fact, I love it. I am ecstatic when the Christmas train arrives at my station. I love hearing Christmas songs in the air, and each year I visit the Christkindlmarket downtown. I love it all, but I appreciate it all when the time is right, in the winter not the fall. Autumn is the time in which the spotlight should shine brightest on Thanksgiving and the football field.