What a difference a day makes! The seasons seem to change overnight and pay no attention to the forecast. Yesterday the sky opened up and covered the ground with snow prompting my optimistic child to utter "at least it didn't happen before we had to go out for treats."
The weather wasn't the only change. It didn't take long for stores to push aside the pumpkins, ghosts and mini-chocolate bars for the stacks of glittery garlands, cards, bows and boxed gifts. It is an early reminder of the long pre-Christmas season and the even longer winter.
On the weekend we will have to face the changing of the clocks. We live in an odd little area of the province where we follow the Alberta time zone and I always dread the instant loss of pre-supper daylight in the fall. The rhythm of the days seems to change and I often wish I could just take on the form of a bear and sleep away part of the season.
A couple of weeks ago a friend told me she won't let her husband put up Christmas lights until December because if he put them up in October he'd turn them on for Halloween and conveniently forget to turn them off again until January.
I'm not ready to head into Christmas yet but I admit I have a few gifts bought. I picked up a couple of CDs and cookbooks supporting a regional musician and a community service group in a nearby city. I don't want to fill people's houses with things they don't need or want and I'd rather support the local economy.
I'm not a huge fan of home sales parties but I do see them as a way to rotate pocket money locally and they do seem to give some of their representatives a sense of accomplishment. A lot of the products are consumable and, as I get older and my possessions pile higher, I am more and more appreciative of gifts I can eat or use up.
I'm hoping to keep most of my holiday spending local with most of the profits staying in the pockets of prairie men and women. Our region is booming economically and it is filled with talented individuals I would rather see making money from their art, culinary skills, writing or music than from punching a time-clock in a job that doesn't challenge their creative soul. Bulletin boards are teeming with posters advertising craft and trade shows, home-based businesses and specials at local retailers.
I may even try to make a few gifts myself hoping the lustre of the season doesn't fade away before Dec. 25.
