Merry Christmas

October is here.
Merry Christmas!
Sounds silly, doesn't it?
That's what I thought when I walked into a local retail outlet Monday decked out for Christmas with "Happy Holidays" playing throughout the place.
Artificial trees were out, fully decorated, and very much for sale.
Completing this obtuse october picture at one of the cashier's counters, a display of pretty christmas ornaments next to a light up skull... presumably for Halloween.
All of this underscores a trend I call call creeping Christmas.
According to my calendar, Columbus Day is next happy holiday in line.
Then there's Halloween.
Thanksgiving anyone?
Christmas is way down the pike.
Not to sound like an old coot, but it used to be that the Christmas season rolled in with Santa Claus at the end of all of those Thanksgiving parades.
Now the tinsel and garland are out in stores before the leaves change colors in the woods.
I feel a bah humbug coming on.
Has crass, craven commercialism run amuck?
I'm all for chestnuts roasting on an open fire... but how about we at least wait until the average high temperature drops below 80 degrees?