Earlier Every Year...

I know that we moan that Christmas starts earlier every year, but this year it really has, judging by the number of Christmas decorations I've seen up already.  I mean, it isn't even December yet!  Sure, I know that municipal decorations have been up for a while yet, but that's normal - they have to get their money's worth, not to mention try to create the atmosphere for Christmas shopping, so town centres always get decorated in November.  (Here in Crapchester, despite lockdown 2.0, the German sausage stall - a staple of the festive season - has turned up.  As it is, technically, a takeaway, it managed to beat the lockdown restrictions.  Mind you, I'm still surprised that Nigel Farage and the Brexit brigade haven't turned up to shout: 'Nooooo! No EU sausages here - British bangers for British people!' or something similar).  What is unusual are the number of domestic decorations that have gone up - when I walked down to Morrisons late this afternoon, I was struck by the number houses lit up already.  You know something?  While this premature celebration of the festive season usually irritates me, this time, I'm OK with it.  It has been such a lousy and disrupted year that people need some cheer brought into their lives.  (Not that any of this has tempted me into putting up my modest decorations, though).

Even the BBC has started its Christmas idents early this year, (they debuted yesterday).  I remember the days when they waited until Christmas Eve to debut them, but over the years they commenced earlier and earlier in December, until this year, when they started in November.  I have to say, after the truly shitty idents they've used over the past couple of years, (telling socially conscious stories), the current ones are a huge improvement.  Featuring the Grufallo, they actually feel Christmassy.  Not to mention non-preachy.  After all, by its very nature, Christmas has its own built in message - it doesn't need other messages added on.  Mind you, this premature seasonal celebration has served to remind me that I am totally unprepared for Christmas.  It really does seem to have crept up on me this year.  The problem is that the year has been so disrupted and we've spent so much time inside, doing very little, that it has been easy to lose track of the passage of time.  It was the same for me this Summer - it just seemed to come out of nowhere, as if we'd skipped the Spring.  Which, in effect, many of us had because we'd been in lockdown for most of it, so didn't experience it as we normally do.  Still, we have to look on the bright side of this Covid Christmas: horrors like the annual office Christmas party will be well off the agenda.  WE must be thankful for small mercies.