It's October 1st... So Apparently We're Doing Christmas Now

It's October 1st, which means fall is officially here. At least that's what the calendar says. Here in Florida, the weather hasn't received the memo, but that's a whole different conversation. Yeah,we're still living with temperatures that are more suited for shorts and flipflops not cozy sweaters and stylish boots.

But October is here, yay! You know what that means. Pumpkin everything has officially taken over the world. Actually, it started to creep in during September, and it's not just pumpkins for decoration. Oh no. We've come a long way from the days when pumpkin showed up just in time to make jack-o-laterns, hung around Thanksgiving pie, and then went quietly back into hibernation. These days, pumpkin apparently reigns as the Grand Marshall of fall. Pumpkin spice coffee, pumpkin spice creamer, pumpkin spice candles, pumpkin spice cookies, pumpkin spice cereal, pumpkin spice body wash... if there's a product that can possibly be infused with the smell or flavor of pumpkin spice, somebody has already done it. I haven't personally seen pumpkin spice toothpaste yet, but I'm not ruling it out. Give them time. Better yet, don't give them any ideas.

Personally, I'm okay with it. There's something about October that makes people want to pull out the pumpkins, light a cinnamon-scented candle and pretend we're all living in a charming little New England town where the leaves are turning brilliant shades of red, purple, orange and gold. The aroma brings with it memories of all the wonderful things cooked for holiday meals and time spent with family or the simple pleasure of an gathering around a fire on a crisp autumn evening.

Seeing these big orange gourds in October is understandable. After all Halloween is only 30 days away. The candy is out, the costumes are out, and the stores are filled with enough decorations to make you wonder whether people are decorating their houses or preparing to open a haunted attraction. There are skeletons, witches, ghosts, spiders, tombstones and enough fake cobwebs to cover a small subdivision. You have to be careful, though, because those fake cobwebs morph into icicles and garland. Yep, two aisles over the Christmas decorations have already made their debut.

For those that like to get a head start on all things Christmas, it's not a bad thing, but some would like each holiday to have it's own moment in the sun or in this case store. Regardless of your peference, stores are already setting up displays and shelves are being stocked with trees, ornaments, wrapping paper, lights, stockings, mugs, signs, ribbons and every other Christmas-related object known to mankind. The sad part is that you're almost forced to buy things early because once it's gone it's gone. If you don't buy it when you see it, you're going to be out of luck. This gift shopping gig isn't for the faint of heart.

As if that wasn't enough, Walmart has already delivered my copy of the Walmart Holiday Toy Shop catalog. Yep, that showed up before September saw its last day. I'm not kidding...a Christmas catalog...in my mailbox...in September. That's either giving people some serious planning time or one heck of a marketing stategy. I'm thinking it's a bit of both.

I have to admit, getting that catalog made me smile because there's something nostalgic about getting a toy catalog in the mail. When I was a kid, a catalog like that was practically an event. You could sit for hours going through every page, circling things you absolutely had to have and carefully making your Christmas wish list as though Santa had an unlimited budget and a warehouse full of toys just waiting for your order.

This time of the year is truly unique. Walk through a store in October and you'll find Halloween everywhere. Keep walking and eventually you'll run smack into Christmas. Thanksgiving, meanwhile, seems to be standing off to the side holding a casserole dish and quietly asking, "Did you forget about me?"

Have you noticed that Thanksgiving seems to have gotten lost somewhere along the way? I don't mean that people don't celebrate it. We certainly do. Families will still gather around tables, somebody will argue about whether the turkey is actually done, somebody else will show up with a questionable-looking side dish nobody asked for, and there will be approximately fourteen different opinions about how the mashed potatoes should be made.

Thanksgiving is still alive and well in our homes. Apparently it's just missing from the retail calendar. Seriously, it seems that Thanksgiving has been relegated to one or two kiosks of plates and napkins that show up about ten days before the big day. I'm pretty sure the turkeys will show up at roughly the same time. They usually do.