Seems
like every year the media and retailers roll out Christmas earlier than the
year before. This year right around 4th of July, the Hallmark
channel had an entire weekend of Christmas movies. It feels like the older I
get the faster time goes by and I think I have figured out why. When I was
younger I looked forward to each holiday and season. But any more, the media
and retailers are months ahead. By the time the actual holiday or season arrives
I am ready to get it over with and move on to the next.
I
was with my daughter and one of my granddaughters last month and we stopped at
a store to pick up some craft supplies. It was July and they had their Fall, Halloween
and Thanksgiving displays all set up in the front of the store. The first thing I thought of was that in a
few months those days would be upon us. Then I snapped out of it and reminded
myself that it was just the first full month of summer. No wonder time seems to
fly by. Christmas movies and
Thanksgivings decorations in July, I guess I should be looking for the Spring
vacation commercials to begin in September.
The
stores already have summer clothes on sale and the new Fall clothing out on the
hangers. There is no more living in the moment. It’s always what’s next. I remember that on New Year’s Eve we would
look forwards to the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day. Then the next week we would
return to school. Around the 1st of March I would realize my
birthday would be coming up and would make plans. A few weeks later Easter
Vacation rolled around. We never called it “spring break”, it was always Easter
week. I would make plans with my friends to spend the week at the beach as much
as possible. But Easter day was always a family holiday with a ham and all the
side dishes. Sometime in the middle of May we would talk about plans for
Memorial Weekend. The first two weeks of June seemed to be the longest. They
were the last days of the school year. Those two weeks alone felt like a year. Lots
of studying and tests then summer finally arrived.
Summers
appeared endless. Sleep overs at friend’s houses, weekend trips to Colorado
River water skiing, and days at the beach surfing and sunbathing. There was
always a 4th of July BBQ somewhere and a parade, long lazy days lying
out at the pool listening to music and then one last long Labor Day weekend at
the beach. A day or so before school started
my mom would take us to the store and we would buy a few new outfits to begin
the new school year off with. There were no big back to school sales or school
supplies to buy. If we needed a new notebook we would get one, but most of the
time it was a package of 3 ringed paper to put in the same notebook we used
last year.
We
always had a 3 day weekend in October for Columbus Day and the last week of
October we would take notice of what day Halloween fell on and either plan to go
to Knott’s Berry Farm or to a party at a friend’s house. In November we would have
a 3 day weekend for Veteran’s Day. Thanksgiving never entered our minds until
the weekend before when we would go shopping with our mom and she would buy a
turkey. We would spend Thanksgiving with all our family, eat until we were
full, watch some football, then eat some more.
I don’t remember Christmas commercials on TV
until the end of the first week in December. Christmas lights would begin to go
up on house and decoration in yards about two weeks before Christmas. That is
about the time Christmas trees would start to appear as well. Two week for
Christmas shopping was more than enough time.
We
had two weeks off of school for Christmas. With any luck there would be some
snow in the mountains and we could spend our time skiing. The stores were
crowed but people were not rude or pushy. There were a lot of sales, nonetheless
stores were well stocked and there were no Black Friday’s or “door busters”
that caused riots. The day after Christmas, the tree came down and life
returned to normal until New Year’s Eve when I would get together with a bunch of
friends and go sit out on a cold curb all night in Pasadena drinking hot
chocolate waiting for the Rose Parade to begin. And the year had come full circle.
Looking
back it is as if we lived a lifetime in each year. Instead of the way it feels
now, that we are living a year in a month’s time. Now days it seems as if
everything is done at warped speed. It is as if we go thought twelve months is
a few weeks. We never seem to live in the present or enjoy the moment. We have
become media and retail driven. So the next time you wonder why things seem to
be moving so fast take a step back and cease the day. https://www.facebook.com/ForSuchASeason
No comments:
Post a Comment