October Ho-Ho-Ho? No, No,

Who doesn’t know that song? The one that gets in your head and you can’t get it out. The one with Alvin and his chipmunk brothers imploring, “Oh Christmas don’t be late…”
That song was written in 1958. Who woulda’ thought that 53 years later not only would Christmas not be late, it would come before Halloween?
There’s something bizarre about turning on the car radio to 93.3 FM and hearing Elvis croon how there’ll be a blue Christmas without you. You figure, oh well, it’s probably a promo or something. But it’s not. Because right after the song comes the announcement that the station is “all Christmas, all the time.” And it’s October 15.
The leaves on the trees are still green and hanging on for dear life. The weather is still balmy. Hints of Halloween are popping up on people’s lawns like errant weeds holding on to their last hurrah. Being the hardiest of shore people that we are, we’re still wearing our Bermuda shorts and t-shirts. The World Series hasn’t even played out yet.
This past weekend I ran an errand to one of the local big box hardware stores. In front of me a young father pushed his toddler in a cart. I watched as the dad tried to divert his son’s eyes away from the jubilant nylon lighted Santas popping up from their jack-in-the boxes to a display of 8 feet high jack o’lanterns blowing in the fan-induced breeze. Talk about kiddy confusion.
Perhaps it is time to call it a day, but what happened to the era where Santa climbed up the ladder into the toy department of Gimbel’s on Thanksgiving Day. We’d stand there, in the cold breathless from the chill and the thrill at the mere sight of him, or, we’d watch on television and we all knew the unspoken kid credo had come to fruition – he was in town and you’d better watch out.
And that began the Christmas season. The elves, which went to work instead of chowing down on their turkey feasts, would transform stores into a winter wonderland literally overnight. It was a magical time. It was a time of innocence.
Whoever coined the phrase “time takes time” had it right on the nose. And that “time” means slowing down to enjoy the time that is offered to us; not to be so busy rushing toward tomorrow that we forget to just bask in what is here now.
These are tough economic times and it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. Businesses have to do what they have to do in order to hear the jingle, jingle, jingle in their tills. Putting out the Christmas merchandise sooner is supposed to get us in a ho-ho frame of mind. To make us think, and to make us spend. But at what cost?
For me, I’m going to turn off the all-Christmas, all-the-time radio until November 25. And I won’t put up a strand of lights or hang one tassel of tinsel until the official arrival of the Christmas season. I don’t want to be Christmased-out before the big day. I want to be able to savor the month between Black Friday and the big day like a gift that has been given to me.
I’ll shop, I’ll bake cookies, I’ll hang my stocking and I’ll marvel at the miracle of all that is the holiday. In the meantime there are pumpkins to be carved and treats to be bought. Who knows? Maybe a kid will show up at my front door dressed like Alvin.