Resetting the calendar

When did Christmas attach itself to Halloween’s heels?

By Elizabeth MacGregor

The skeletons climbed on to a roof one night and the reindeer took over the next morning. No sooner had those bony creatures finished frightening young souls than happy snowmen and illuminated wreaths gave off a merry welcome.

I was startled by the transition of a neighbour’s yard from Halloween fright to friendly light. It was suddenly Christmas time in the city -- even though Remembrance Day was still to come.

The humming sounds emitted by huge colourful snow creatures on front lawns and small porches not only scare dogs, but create an electronic buzz through the neighbourhood. Lights, large red noses, and blow-up images of reindeer and snowmen, electrically enhanced, are up and ready before Santa arrives in town.

Why is this happening so soon, and when did Christmas attach itself to the heels of Halloween?

MAD DASH

The mad dash to install decorations, to be the first,or to get it over with, starts earlier every year. Our neighbours to the south are protected from this folly by a late Thanksgiving. They have something else to celebrate, buttressing them from this premature and unnecessary tribute to the snowy season.

The shock I felt when I noticed the scary Halloween decorations replaced the very next day by a huge Frosty on a new neighbour’s lawn led me to ponder why people are so eager to extend a season that heralds snow and cold. I can fully understand celebrating the coming festive season in December,and I agree that November is a hellish month -- dark, dreary, short days, and little to recommend it.

No matter how much I dislike November, I still don’twant to hear Christmas carols for two months.“White Christmas” can make my eyes tear up only onthe first go-round. After hearing it continuously for weeks, I start wishing for a huge snowstorm to takeout all communication devices and leave me in a“Silent Night.”

SELLING GUILT

Commerce is to blame, stores keen to whip us into a buying frenzy. Selling guilt and scarcity are good for business, and setting up display windows to depict wintry scenes is a way to nudge us toward the gluttonous shopping sprees that mark the Christmas season. All the proselytizing about the true seasonal meaning is lost amid the noise of bad versions of carols, and shopping bags being walked out ofstores.

I wonder if this Yuletide will be a bit different.Perhaps, with our deep desire to connect socially being restricted, we may find ways to experience the true meaning of the season.

Or, will the clamour and chaos of too much corny music and too many stark white LED lights,bad Santa movies, and stale fruitcake take over November, and make us wish we could just skip toJanuary?

There is much to be enjoyed if December is handledwith delicacy. I am simply opposed to celebrating it a month or two early.

06 SIDEONE DECEMBER 2020