It’s Beginning to Feel a Little Like Christmas
It’s still only November but I have to admit, it’s beginning to feel a little like Christmas. The daytime highs have dropped down below 80 and its cool enough in the morning (43 degrees this morning at 6:30) that a sweatshirt feels good. I work out at the fitness center in the mornings so I go out now and start the engine a few minutes early so the heater can take the chill off. Of course the stores have been in Christmas mode since the middle of October. Its a little disconcerting to see Christmas decorations in the stores while the neighborhood still has ghosts and witches decorating the front yards. And Thanksgiving has become an afterthought, a brief respite before the hordes descend upon the stores for an orgy of shopping on what they now call “Black Friday.”
Many of the major stores around here were open at 4am (some even earlier). My two daughters, Stacy and Summer, decided to brave the crowds and take advantage of the advertised bargains. So they left the house at 4am, arrived at one department store just a few minutes later only to find the store absolutely crammed with shoppers. Stacy said that there was a 90 minute wait at the cashiers. After being run over by a shopping cart for a third time (without any word of apology) they decided it wasn’t worth it and went home and back to bed. Crazy!
Things were different when I was growing up. Christmas didn’t really begin for our family until after December 19th. That was my birthday and usually that night, after my birthday dinner and presents, we would all gather together and put up the Christmas tree. Even as an adult I didn’t really begin my Christmas shopping until after then, and often waited until I got off work early on Christmas Eve to pick up my last gifts. Things have changed and as I have gotten older I have begun my Christmas shopping earlier. I have actually bought most of my Christmas presents for this year and it’s not even December yet. That’s amazing!
We began putting up some Christmas decorations this past weekend, mainly because we’re hosting a couple of Christmas parties early in December. But we won’t put up our Christmas tree or put out the big blowup lawn decorations until mid-December (much to the disgust of my 11-year old grandson who already has his yard full of decorations, with more to come).
So, it is beginning to feel a little like Christmas – with cooler weather and decorated stores – and that’s a pretty nice feeling, after all.
Blessings,
Steve