What's the Rush

As an online seller I'm supposed to be all geared up for the Christmas rush...I should be sporting my Santa Hat and Christmas themed banner et al. All the marketing experts say so... I've been seeing Santa Hats, Jingle Bells, Reindeer and Elves... blasted with Christmas tunes since the day after Halloween. These visions appear not only in my daily travels across the web as I search for the few remaining items I need to complete my Christmas gift giving but in every venue I've been in this month, from the grocery store, drug stores, and of course the WallyWorlds and other department stores.

So why am I just dragging my feet? The whole idea of being an online seller is to sell obviously, so shouldn't I be convincing the multitudes that I'm the most Christmassy of them all and donning my Christmas persona, blasting away with reminders that you only have blah blah shopping days left till Christmas?

I don't know about you Gentle Reader but it seems to me that the "marketing experts" and buyers at the Big Girl Stores have forgotten something important and by doing so blend every season so that there are no distinguishing lines. It's about getting the jump on your competition and apparently the "marketing experts" think that blasting the multitudes with flashing lights and bawdy Musak tunes is a necessary evil lest we forget to buy buy buy...

What happened to Thanksgiving? Which when I was growing up was probably the second most favorite day of the year... following birthday's only by a smidgen in favorite-ness. Sure I loved Christmas like all kids I suppose. But, to me Thanksgiving was the next thing after Halloween to look forward too because everybody was happy, full and having Fun! Growing up, we meaning not just my Mom, Dad, Brother and I, but the entire clan of Grandparents, Cousins, Aunts, Uncles from both sides of the family cooked and cooked, ate and laughed together in one place. One Thanksgiving memory I will never forget, happened when it was Aunt Ethel's turn to host the clan... and her husband, Uncle Fred decided to play a joke on us all. He went out and bought a live turkey instead of one that had already been dressed (actually I'm not sure that it was just a prank but most likely cheaper on his pocket book, Uncle Fred after all was so tight he squeaked when he walked) and turned it loose in their back yard. Trooper that she was, poor Aunt Ethel went after that bird with a vengeance but the turkey had other ideas. I recall all us non-adults --hid behind curtains laughing and giggling at the spectacle of our aunt running through the back yard trying to catch that bird. We were in stitches when to a chorus of "I'll swans" Mom, Grandma and Aunts went in to help, by the time it was all over my brother and I and all of our cousins were in a breathless heap because all of the adults Uncle Fred included, were chasing that one poor bird all over that tiny backyard and he just kept slipping away. Yes, we did have turkey that year, while being serenaded by the gobble, gobble, gobble of that Tom strutin his stuff in the back yard... and giggles, snickers and laughter as we all had visions of Aunt Ethel chasing around the backyard.

My point is this take time to enjoy life one day at a time. Enjoy the colors of fall, the crunch of the leaves under your feet. Don't rush the days till they all blend together into one big blur.

Personally, I'm just going to smell the Turkey roasting.