For the first time in my lifetime the first day of Hanukkah is also Thanksgiving.  The pundits are are sagely calling the event Thanksgivukkah.  According to this referenced source, the first day of Hanukkah will not happen again for over 70,000 years.  However, according to another source, this overlap could happen again in 2070 and 2165.  Although I do not think I’ll be around in 2070, my children could be (they are 17 and 20 of this writing).  I find this phenomenon really interesting–Thanksgiving usually starts the US holiday season and Hanukkah falls later, during Advent.  Not so this year.  I wonder how people combine latkes and Thanksgiving (even without the turkey).  Loaded latkes? (My appreciation to Kia.)

So I’m sure you are wondering, HOW EXACTLY DOES THIS RELATE TO EVALUATION?

I decided that it was time to revisit my blog title, Evaluation is an Everyday Activity. Every day you evaluate something.  Although you do not necessarily articulate out loud the criteria against which you are determining merit, worth, and value, you have those criteria.  I have them for latkes AND Thanksgiving.  Our latkes must be crispy; of winter vegetables including potatoes.  This allows me to use a variety of winter vegetables I may have gotten in my CSA.  (Beet latkes? Sweet potato latkes?  Celeriac latkes?  You bet!)   Our Thanksgiving is to have foods for which we are truly thankful.  That allows us to think about gratitude.  Each year our menu is different because each year we are thankful for different things.  (I must confess, however, we always have pie–pumpkin, which I make from home grown pumpkin/squash, and chocolate pecan, which is an original old family recipe.)  One year when we put all the food on the table, all the food was green.  We didn’t plan it that way; it just happened because they were foods for which we were thankful.  This year, we will have mashed potatoes (by the Queen of mashed potatoes), Celebration Filo, both the gluten-free (made with rice wrappers and no onion, garlic, or dairy) and glutened versions (the version which we renamed and is in the link above), and something else that will probably be green.  This year I’m thankful for my gluten-free; dairy-free friend who will join us for Thanksgiving and I’m working up alternatives to accommodate her and still satisfy the rest of us.

So you see, even when I’m thinking about Thanksgiving, latkes, and gratitude, I’m thinking about evaluation.  What merit does the “program” have?  What is its worth?  What is its value?  Those are all evaluative questions that apply to Thanksgiving (and latkes and gratitude). 

So you see, Evaluation is an Everyday Activity.

I won’t be blogging next week.  Enjoy.  Be grateful.