Now that we've had summer. What you missed it? It was a Saturday, probably May 31. Yeah the weather has been one ongoing bummer right from the first snow that fell last fall to the Summer Solstice last week. Saturday was the longest day of the year that was supposed to find us celebrating a fine prairie summer.
But sadly, the solstice is past and we all know what that means, we are now on the steady downslide, heading from the longest day to the shortest day. Oh gloom.
But our sports guy came up with a cheery observation. There are only six months left to Christmas.
I think he had Christmas on his mind because he's already booked his flight back to Hamilton, Ont. to spend the holidays with his family. He's likely thinking it will be warmer in Hamilton in December and January than it is on the Prairies in June.
Christmas, that mother of all retail extravaganzas, is only about 24 weeks away. Oh joy. Time to get organized!
I anticipate the "back to school" displays will be up before the end of June. That promotion will quickly give way to a Halloween theme and before we know it the entire retail landscape will smoothly segue into Christmas.
In its religious context, Christmas can be both a spiritually uplifting time for practising Christians and a controversial time for those of other faiths who protest the holiday's pervasive in-your-face demeanor.
On a strictly retail front, it's simply what it's all about, folks. The rest of the shopping year pales in comparison to the frenzy that heats up the direct-debit units during the holiday shopping season.
Christmas just "happens" in my household, so I can gleefully put the six-month deadline out of my mind and concentrate on milking every possible drop of sunshine out of this dismal summer.
Bah, humbug!
