By Adam Frisk
Ah yes, it’s my favourite time of year again when the deer are still feasting on smashed, mouldy pumpkins and I’m in my garage untangling Christmas lights like I’m Clark Griswold. But for some, that’s a problem.
“It’s too soon,” they say. “Wait until after Remembrance Day!” the purists scold on Facebook, while adjusting their high-visibility moral vests.
Bah humbug, to which I respond. Pass me the garland, the lights and the tacky yard-inflatables, because old Saint Nick is going up on the roof.
Now, before you get your stockings in a twist, I do respect the calendar. But, the grim reality of living in central Ontario really begins to set in right about now.
Halloween is over, and the universe has decided to shut the sun off at 4:30 p.m. The days are grey, damp, brown and smell of soggy leaves.
Why on earth would anyone choose to stare into the gloomy, depressing abyss of
an autumn afternoon when they could be sitting cozy on a couch, staring at pre-lit Fraser fir?
People often bring up the old debate about how decorating on Nov. 1 somehow disrespects Remembrance Day. As if taking a moment of silence on Nov. 11, or paying tribute at the local cenotaph requires 10 previous days of sitting in the dark, admiring that orchid you managed to keep alive for so long.
I believe that our veterans did not fight for our freedom so we could spend the first 10 days of November sitting in damp darkness pretending we don’t have a fake Christmas tree sitting in a busted-up cardboard box in the garage. You can wear a poppy, honour the fallen and those who made it home, AND enjoy the warm yellow lighting at the exact same time.
Then there’s the logistics of it all. Stringing up outdoor lights on Nov. 2 means your fingers actually still work. You can staple-gun 25,000 twinkling lights to the roof without freezing your hands off, or risk lake effect snow hindering your inner Griswold. Deep down inside, we all know that Mariah Carey begins to thaw from her cryogenic slumber at the stroke of midnight on Nov. 1, with All I Want for Christmas Is You replacing Michael Jackson’s Thrilleron Grocery Store FM.
So, if flipping the switch on Christmas in early November makes the impending six-months of Haliburton winter slightly more enjoyable, I’m not waiting for an arbitrary date on a wall calendar for permission to have some joy in my life.
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good 50 nights!
