Like it or not, it appears we’ve let it slip up on us once again. Somehow, it seems, we get caught with our eyes closed every year. Just when we think were getting going good with football season and tailgating, the end of October rolls around and all of a sudden it’s here.
That multi-month-long holiday fest Hallothankschristmasgivingween! Don’t believe it? Just look around you next time you’re out and about shopping for charcoal, or perhaps a lawn mower belt, or some more ant poison to feed the ants.
That stuff is all gone. It has been replaced by the Hallothankschristmasgivingween merchandise. You know, pumpkins, and costumes, and pilgrims, fall leaves, and pretty green trees in all shapes and sizes.
There are Hallothankschristmasgivingween ribbons and bows and candles and whole cornucopias of good things. Fruitcake makings are piling up beside the pumpkin pie mix and candy corn and I even saw some “spooky” eggnog — yes, Halloween egg nog — in the dairy case.
The holiday fest really slipped up on us quickly this year. Last week was warm — no, hot — and humid and Monday morning we had frost on the pumpkins in Sebastopol.
No kidding...frost! It was really on my windshield, because the pumpkins are on the porch, but it sounds better the other way around. It should, however, make the turnip greens and collards taste better when supper time rolls around this week.
I was chainsawing, and weed eating, and lawn mowing, and leaf blowing in shorts and a t-shirt Saturday morning and pulled out a nice warm jacket, and turned on the space heater at work, on Monday morning.
I’m not sure when it got by me, but we had a fire — fake fire mind you — on Sunday night and I suppose sitting there watching the flames is when it happened. I admit seeing eggnog and pumpkins all at the same time threw me off a bit, but I do think it was that fire that reminded me that Hallothankschristmasgivingween eve indeed was upon us.
After all, we had been risking life and limb trying to walk the dogs barefoot in the ant fields the previous week and then found ourselves all bundled up under an afghan in a chilly old house on Sunday evening with nothing much to do.
Inside, in front of the television we caved in and pulled out an old Christmas movie to pass the time away. The movie selection in our television box is much like the aisles at the store, Home Alone, Frankenstein, It’s a Wonderful Life, Night of the Living Dead....you know, a Hallothankschristmasgivingween collection. And sure enough as we whiled the evening away, the holiday season began in earnest.
The proof was even more evident Monday afternoon when the time finally came for a dreaded trek to the store for those things everybody has to have at some point — toilet paper mainly, and some more ant bait — occurred.
Truthfully, though, I can’t do too much poor mouthing about this over extended holiday season because there has, in fact, already been some Silent Night, Oh Come All Ye Faithful, You Better Watch Out and those other songs heard more typically in December toward the end of Hallothankschristmasgivingween playing on the our stereo for weeks now.
Enjoy the holidays my friends, because like it or not they are here. Happy Hallothankschristmasgivingween!
