So I've noticed something recently. Christmas. You know that holiday on December 25th? The one where you give and receive gifts wrapped in shiny paper. Where you gather with family and friends and eat turkey and pie (lots of pie). In the case of some people, it's a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
Of course, the most important thing in all that is the date. December 25th. So how is it I find myself on November 15th, a full 40 days before Christmas, covering events in Woodstock relating to that holiday? 40 days out, there is now a town Christmas tree. 40 days out, there are lights and decorations up all over town. And 40 days out, local merchants are selling Christmas knickknacks. Some (like that behemoth Wal-Mart) have been selling Christmas-related items for even longer.
I was talking to my mom the other day. She told me the mall in Saint John has already started piping Christmas music through the sound system.
The holiday seasons are running right together now. And it's not a recent phenomenon. I just finished reading a collection of columns by former CBS anchor Dan Rather, and one of them lamented the way holidays just run one into another. There's no gap. The Christmas "season" starts sometime in late October-early November. In my mind, the season should start in the first week of December. No Christmas specials should be permitted to air on television, no holiday music should be allowed on the radio, no decorations should be allowed, and no Christmas merchandise should be on display and for sale, until that first week of December.
Maybe that makes me a scrooge or a grinch, but I think people would enjoy and appreciate the Christmas season more if it didn't drag on for so long. I know I'm starting to get a little sick of it by the time the 25th rolls around.
So let it be known, here and now on this blog. The Christmas season should be limited to the month of December. Enjoy the fall, watch some hockey or football. Once December 1st hits, then you can go nuts to your heart's content. Don't force it down our throats so early.
3 comments:
I think we should celebrate Christmas all year round...maybe not with all the music and television specials, but we should celebrate the feeling of Christmas.
I wish I could bottle the happiness I get around this time of year and smother it on every day...people are so good to each other around the holidays...they remember each other and love one another, and I don't think that should be a December only kind of thing.
I'm not saying I don't want the feeling to disappear except in December. I could just do without the music and having the decorations and everything so early. There was a store here who had Christmas stuff up BEFORE Halloween. That's just too much.
I guess I partly agree...but hearing it all and seeing it all gets me really excited for the holidays...and it should make all of you guys in NB happy too! You get to see ME again!
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