Thursday, October 30, 2008

Jack O lanterns and Christmas trees


It is the day before Halloween and the month of October has flown by. We have yet to carve our pumpkins, let alone finish putting up the decorations Big N picked out. He has noticed, which means I cannot forget to put them up or I will have them up for Thanksgiving. This evening will be busy as we try to finish decorating and carve 2 of the pumpkins for the kids.

With so much to do, it is surprising that I am still thinking of what happened on my way home. Yesterday evening I stopped for gas just east of Seattle, well past the Bellevue traffic jam. I am predictable and I picked this gas station because it is cheap and it has a coffee stand. Pete should be able to tell you which gas station just from that statement. I of course went inside to grab a cup of coffee. I was in a hurry, which is nothing new for me. I am always in a hurry. I wanted to get home and I was already late enough that I would miss the kid's bedtime. I was running through my mental list of things I needed to get done around the house and not really listening to the barista or the background chatter as I smiled and nodded, ordering my usual. I had to remember to set out Big N's frogie Halloween costume so he could wear it to preschool. We need to pick up a little candy in case we get a few trick or treaters that brave the walk down the dark gravel road to our house. As I was waiting for my Mocha and adding to my list, a beautiful male voice sang "the First Noel" over the store stereo.

Listening to "No-oh-ell-el, No-oh-elll..." I realized I was staring at a small teddy bear on the counter. The little bear was wearing an orange sweater with a black jack o lantern smile on the front, the price tag attached to his left ear. Here was this beautiful Christmas song, one of my favorites, the warm tenor tone punctuating the fake cobwebs and plastic spiders on the wall. It was out of place. Forced. Fake.

It is fall and the forces that be, the companies and stores that see Christmas as a boost to their bottom line, are trying to start off their Christmas season with a bang. They want us to think about Christmas. Perhaps the longer we think about Christmas, the more we will spend on Christmas. The more we spend, the better their end of year will be.

I'm not ready for Halloween, I'm really not ready for Thanksgiving, but Christmas, I don't even want to think about buying for Christmas.

We're rushed enough, why can't we enjoy the season as it comes instead of trying to hurry up the Christmas spending?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

i hear ya girl, i hear ya!