At the same time as I was waxing eloquent about making Christmas last, my colleague Stephen was taking down the tree in our art center. It turns out that very few people in Bedford subscribe to the "Twelve Days of Christmas" concept, beginning December 25 and ending just before Three Kings' Day, on January 5. Most of my friends here regard the Christmas season as beginning the day after Thanksgiving and ending on December 25. Stephen even joked that he always thought "Boxing Day" (December 26) was so named because it was the day you boxed up all the decorations and put them back in the attic.
The whole idea that the Christmas season has been adjusted to match shopping (and selling) habits I find more than a little annoying. I have nothing against putting up decorations the day after Thanksgiving, which more or less corresponds to Advent, but taking them down on the 26th of December just reeks of "What is Christmas when all the presents have been opened?" More, so much more.
The lights in front of the old jail are failing in big chunks, leaving some strangely-lit shrubbery, but they'll be on every night until January 6. Unless the poltergeist agrees with Stephen and Tonie.
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