Don’t mix Christmas and Halloween

We were walking through a home improvement store last week in search of potting soil. I was surprised to see a display of Christmas decorations across the aisle from the Halloween decorations. One side of the aisle featured witches, bats and towering skeletons. Facing them were life-size Santa Clauses with brown or pink features. I doubt if the Santas could hold their own against the skeletons and witches.

My first thought was that it was still September. For many years we have seen holiday displays pop up months before whatever holiday is upcoming. But mixing Halloween with Christmas just seems so wrong. Before we know it we will be putting candy canes into Halloween treat bags.

For the record, candy canes are not my favorite candy. They rank in the bottom third of candies along with everybody else’s favorite Snickers.

I realize that craft kits take time to complete and thus need to be offered ahead of the actual holiday. However, it doesn’t take the better part of three months to set out a plastic Nativity or other assorted decorations.

One of these years we will set up something my late father-in-law always said he wanted to do. He wanted to set out a life-size cut out of a mountain lion, stag, doe and fawn. First the mountain lion would be crouching in the bushes. Then the big cat would be removed and replaced with the stag. The stag was then replaced with the doe. Lastly, the fawn was added.

All of these were to stay in place for a day or two. Then the mountain lion would be added back in. It would creep up on the deer family. Then the stag would be removed, followed by the doe. The mountain lion would be moved closer and closer to the fawn. On Christmas day the fawn would be by itself. 

I loved that man’s sense of humor.

I think it is far too early to deal with decorations for either Christmas or Halloween. There are plenty of holidays between now and Christmas. For instance, Cinnamon Roll Day is October 4. I have been hungry for cinnamon rolls for several weeks. One of these days I’ll make some cinnamon  bread and call it close enough.

Columbus Day is also in October. This used to honor the guy who discovered America. There is a problem with that. America was already home to many people. Dear old Chris also brought a series of diseases with him which he readily shared with the peoples on the islands where he did visit. These days his exploits are more quietly remembered.

Halloween is at the tail end of the month and is probably the most celebrated of October holidays. Any holiday that celebrates candy is a good one.

November has its own set of holidays. Election day is the seventh. It is when we get to vote in the next set of politicians that we will complain about.

Veterans Day  on the 11th. Aside from a ceremony or two, this day rarely gets the attention it should. It is a somber day of remembrance.

As I said before, Halloween wraps up the month. The skeletons and ghouls should go into hiding no later than it takes to finish the Halloween candy.

November is a time to begin Christmas shopping and planning for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a time to get together for an oversized meal while trying to avoid that one relative who gets on your nerves every year.

The first week or two of December is the time to get out all those Christmas decorations you forgot you had. This is in between all the shopping trips to find that perfect present. The more perfect the gift seems, the more the recipient will hate it.

In my opinion, we should back off of the desire to get everything done ahead of time and enjoy the days as they come. Oh, and spooky decorations should never share the same space as plastic Santas. It confuses the reindeer.