One at a time...

This has begun making the rounds on Facebook. It seems to me that it was going around last November, too, so I'm not sure this is current, but a cursory investigation indicates that this is truly Nordstrom's annual policy.  

 It's getting a lot of play (and is very popular.)  Here's my 2¢.

About 15 years ago, I was working near Union Square in San Francisco. (Nightmare job - but that's another story!) It was my birthday - October 3.  It was about 85º outside, a beautiful Indian Summer day.  I was amazed and appalled when, looking up at the huge Macy's facing the square, every single window was decorated with a Christmas wreath.  October third. 

Fast forward to about 5 years ago, same location in mid-October: no Xmas decor!  Why?

I think it's because they have found a way to cash in on Halloween.  It is a BIG money-maker for retailers now.  Not just candy and costumes - orange and purple lights! glittered pumpkins! enormous inflatable lawn decorations! life-sized zombies! bodies hanging from trees! (Yes, really, and right at the end of my block.  Very disturbing.)  Retailers have monetized Halloween.  Weird, but at least by having a profitable holiday between Labor Day and Christmas, we have been saved from sights like the above windows before it's time to put away the sleeveless shirts.  Now all that red and green stuff comes out on November 1, along side the 30% off (really, Target? not 50%?) Snickers and M&M's.

This new trend thrills me, actually.  I don't buy into elaborate Halloween decor - at most, I'll buy a couple of those cute little pumpkins.  If they're active in October, I am usually more invested in what is happening with the Giants.

So here's my idea on how to further push retailers' cashing in on Christmas back to Advent:  Let's monetize Thanksgiving!  Just think of it: Giant inflatable turkeys, cornucopias and pilgrims. Elaborate light shows in amber and orange. Strands of oversized faux colorful leaves streaming from car antennae.  Politically correct t-shirts commemorating Native Americans' oppression.  Books about gratitude written by Justin Beiber and the New Jersey housewives.

I won't buy into that, either.  (Well, okay, maybe a t-shirt.)  But if it catches on, maybe more retailers will follow Nordstrom's lead and save the joy of Christmastime for December.  Wouldn't it be nice to walk into a store decked out in Christmas decorations and think, "wow, how wonderful!" instead of "oh crap! already?!"

**None of the above images are mine.  Any copyright infringement is unintentional.  Please contact me if these images are yours, and I will remove them.

Welcome back

It's been a year since I've done this.  This is not an apology.

Occasionally (and especially recently, probably why I'm here now) I get a yearning to blog, some spark of an idea... Often as not, I've told myself that it's either too personal, or that what I really should ("should" - a dangerous word) be doing is writing in my own private journal.  I haven't made a regular practice of that in over a decade, probably, unless you count knocking out a dozen or so pages every winter when I go on retreat.

The year included Dad's steep decline in health and his death.  Simultaneously, a deep and shattering heartbreak over the death of a dear friendship.  I took on a half-dozen projects at church, all of which were pretty much abandoned while I tended to the first two matters.  I thought I found a new job - and then discovered I hadn't.  This broke my Spirit more than my heart, I think. 

Recently, I've picked up some of the pieces.  I've been able to work on most of the church projects, hopefully without disappointing too many people.  This one is the biggest, and in some ways it is also the loneliest.  

For now, I'll not change any of the formatting/colors, etc.  Of course I love to do that, but it is not the reason I'm back, and this looks fine to me for now.

Anyway, I'm back.  We'll see how it goes.