Lucubratrix

It's That Time of Year (Already)

Those of you who have known me for a while will recall that one of my favorite things to bemoan is the ever-earlier encroachment of the Christmas season on the fall holidays. The proper time for the Christmas spirit is, at the very earliest, the day after Thanksgiving. In an ideal world, the Christmas season would begin on the first of December... the day that those children who celebrate Christmas begin to open their Advent calendars, when it is beginning to feel like winter, when there are no holidays between today and Christmas. And yet....

Every year, we are assailed with premature holiday cheer. Over a month before Halloween, the convenience stores are awash in black and orange. Fresh candy corn is on sale everywhere, and there are even private homes decked out with pumpkins fake or real. It is, of course, far too early to begin decorating for Halloween. The Halloween season (such as it is) should never begin until the leaves have started to fall from the trees in earnest.

It seems that things could hardly be worse, but today, as I innocently retrieved the mail, I saw the first Christmas catalogue of the season. The offender in this case is L.L. Bean, although I know all too well that others will follow. Tomorrow is October 1, which seems to be the day to kick off the Christmas season. Starting now, I face two full months of inappropriate holiday music and decorations, two months in which the spirit of the season is diluted beyond all meaning.

Ah, well. I complain about it every year, and every year, I find that nothing has changed.

posted by Just Me @ 19:48