I just can't put it off any longer. 'Tis the season to once again to whip out the Christmas decorations and blast a playlist of such merry songs as "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Winter Wonderland."
Yes, I'm aware it's the middle of November.
I've gotten a lot of criticism - past and present - for how early I start my Christmas season. For me, it's never too early to deck the halls, and it's especially never too early to start listening to Christmas music. I've been good for the last couple of weeks, secretly tuning on with headphones in, but now, the radios have begun their own playlists, and the stores have started their sales.
I am ready.
Christmas season has always begun with the first snowfall of the year, and I grew up in Chautauqua County. Ever heard of "lake effect snow?" Oh boy, do we get it. The first snow used to show up every year right before or on Halloween for a while. I'd see my neighbors rip down Halloween decorations the morning of Nov. 1 and immediately get back on the ladder to hang up twinkle lights and wreaths.
But it's Nov. 14, and I see no snow. I'm getting very impatient.
It's hardly my fault I basically turn into Buddy the Elf around Christmastime. Like almost everything else in my life, I'm perfectly willing to put that blame on my mother, a woman who hunts Christmas shops in the summer looking for whatever she can add to the winter wonderland that is our house.
I even distinctly remember a year we kept our Christmas tree up until July (don't even ask how it survived, but it was alive and well). My family is one of repetition when winter rolls around. We watch Christmas Vacation enough times to be able to recite Clark Griswold's Christmas Eve rant, bake cookies and pfeffern??se until we get fat(ter) and haul out the holly far too early every year.
Christmas has always had a very special place in my heart, and the music only enhances that. If anything less-than-perfect was going on at home, it seemed to be erased with Frank Sinatra's or Johnny Mathis' albums playing from the dining room while we decorated the tree. I spent a lot of time learning how to drive during the winter months while the 24/7 Christmas cycle was playing on the airwaves. And you can be sure I've done all of my early shopping running through malls with it playing overhead.
You'd think I would be sick of it all after spending nine years in school band. There are only so many times you can play "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" surrounded by squeaking clarinets and saxophones without wanting to rip your hair out, but I'm perfectly fine with hearing Dean Martin croon once November rolls around.
I'm one of the few, it seems, but I don't get sick of it. Months of marketing and runs to the mall to grab last-minute gifts only make it that much more fun for me as the day gets closer. Hearing the first strains of Christmas songs on the airwaves is what gets me excited for the rest of the season. And on Christmas morning, my small heart grows three sizes that day.
So even though it's a few weeks early, Scrooges beware: I'm already spreading Christmas cheer by singing loud for all to hear.
Email: ashley.steves@ubspectrum.com
