Merry Halloween!
Once upon a time, twenty-five years ago, the dates followed each other on the calendar. Before celebrating Easter, we celebrated Carnival, before Going Back to School, we went on Vacation, before Christmas Joy came September, October, and November.
It's really not too much to ask. I remember re-runs of Loony Tunes cartoons, where a character would sometimes dress up as Santa Claus to fool another one. The to-be-fooled looked at the calendar, which said July, and the trick was up. If a cartoonist did that same scene today, the to-be-fooled would be fooled, because we start celebrating Christmas up to six months ahead now.
In the month of July, with everyone heading to the beach, grateful for the summer ahead, the Christmas lottery goes on sale. In July. These past years, to cajole visiting tourists into buying a ticket, a poster has been taped to the windows of the lottery offices, ¿Y si Cae Aquí? (And if it [the winning number] falls here?). Few pass up on the opportunity to buy a ticket, because, hey, Lady Fortune can stick her tongue out at you, but she can also give you a winning smile sometimes. Why not help her bring out her best smile by buying a ticket?
In the month of October, right after Columbus day, though sometimes they don't even wait for Columbus to have sailed the ocean blue, supermarkets start putting out tables and shelves of Christmas goodies. Then, about a week before the end of the month, Halloween promotions come up. Supermarkets become a diabetic's nightmare. Added to the marzipan, the nougats, the chocolates, the cookies, and all the other luscious, sweet, rich Christmas goodies, are the gummy bears, the licorice strips, the hard candy, the marshmallows, and all their friends. The worst part is that Halloween candy is an invented money-grabbing promotion. We've always had the carved pumpkins and turnips and ghost stories, but the candy is an American re-invention and export.
In many houses these days there must bowls of candy, while parents and children choose pumpkins to carve, as they start eating Christmas nougat. And order flowers for their departed loved ones for All Saints' Day. And probably start designing their costume for Carnival while the cocido steams on the stove. And looking to see where they will go on summer vacation next year right after they decide what to give their godchildren on Easter. What did you say about enjoying the season we're in? You're old, aren't you?
It's really not too much to ask. I remember re-runs of Loony Tunes cartoons, where a character would sometimes dress up as Santa Claus to fool another one. The to-be-fooled looked at the calendar, which said July, and the trick was up. If a cartoonist did that same scene today, the to-be-fooled would be fooled, because we start celebrating Christmas up to six months ahead now.
In the month of July, with everyone heading to the beach, grateful for the summer ahead, the Christmas lottery goes on sale. In July. These past years, to cajole visiting tourists into buying a ticket, a poster has been taped to the windows of the lottery offices, ¿Y si Cae Aquí? (And if it [the winning number] falls here?). Few pass up on the opportunity to buy a ticket, because, hey, Lady Fortune can stick her tongue out at you, but she can also give you a winning smile sometimes. Why not help her bring out her best smile by buying a ticket?
In the month of October, right after Columbus day, though sometimes they don't even wait for Columbus to have sailed the ocean blue, supermarkets start putting out tables and shelves of Christmas goodies. Then, about a week before the end of the month, Halloween promotions come up. Supermarkets become a diabetic's nightmare. Added to the marzipan, the nougats, the chocolates, the cookies, and all the other luscious, sweet, rich Christmas goodies, are the gummy bears, the licorice strips, the hard candy, the marshmallows, and all their friends. The worst part is that Halloween candy is an invented money-grabbing promotion. We've always had the carved pumpkins and turnips and ghost stories, but the candy is an American re-invention and export.
In many houses these days there must bowls of candy, while parents and children choose pumpkins to carve, as they start eating Christmas nougat. And order flowers for their departed loved ones for All Saints' Day. And probably start designing their costume for Carnival while the cocido steams on the stove. And looking to see where they will go on summer vacation next year right after they decide what to give their godchildren on Easter. What did you say about enjoying the season we're in? You're old, aren't you?
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