Think about this...

[vrb8919]

New to the board, so hello! Secondly, I don't know where you guys are from, but where I am we usually start seeing the autumn/halloween decor go up after 4th of july. That's a little less than 6 1/2 months away. Seems like halloween is far away, but if you really think about it, we'll start seeing halloween stuff sooner than we might think.

[NeverMore]

That's a good point, problem is we'll start seeing stuff for this other holiday in the stores about the same time. I wonder if that's why so many people are saying they didn't get into the Santa season this year? The economy is still tough and they started bombarding us so early this year. People were sick of it by the time the actual holiday rolled around?

[Andybev01]

I think you nailed it, Nevermore!

Welcome to our dark little corner of the web, vrb

[johnsoneliza52]

Welcome!

Glad you dropped in!

[witchy]

Welcome vrb8919, we don't start getting our Halloween stuff till closer to August or September. I am in Mo. by the way. I hope you enjoy this site, it's awesome!!!

[Murfreesboro]

Herein TN, I do start seeing some Halloween stuff right after the 4th. I have seen it at Old Time Pottery as well as Cracker Barrel. But then, Cracker Barrel already had Easter decorations for sale when I was there on Dec. 27th.

I really enjoyed this Christmas just past. For one thing, I focused more on the music of the season, which I was able to enjoy at several different church services at churches of differing denominations. I think if it were all about Santa for me, I would get tired of it fast.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Welcome to Halloween.com, vrb. NeverMore I couldn't agree more. Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy the Christmas season and my Christmas traditions, but it is a bit disconcerting, to say the least, when I am shopping for Halloween merchandise in October and all I can find are artificial Christmas trees, Christmas lights, and Christmas music playing over the Muzak system. It seems that if I don't get my Halloween shopping done in July or August, everything is picked over or gone.

Mike

[Morticia]

Welcome to the forum! I'm in L.A. and unfortunately we don't see anything until October. :/

[Andybev01]

Welcome to the forum! I'm in L.A. and unfortunately we don't see anything until October. :/

There's always West Hollywood.

[Morticia]

Hehe....

[vrb8919]

Thanks for the welcome guys! I have been lurking on this site for a while but decided to go ahead and post. You are correct nevermore, we do start seeing the Christmas stuff around the same time too. I like Christmas, but unfortunately it's turned into just a moneymaking thing and plenty of people have forgotten the reason we should celebrate!

[johnsoneliza52]

Welcome!!

[Pumpkin_Man]

Good point, Vrb. It seems that Christmas, like Lucy said to Charlie Brown, that Christmas has become a "big comercial racket," but in my house, I try to preserve the old traditions that I knew and loved when I was a pup. The one thing that I can't escape, however is that long, boring and often depressing post Christmas winter season of January and February. Thank God January has only about a week and a half to run, and Feb is only 28 days long this year. It's been wretchedly cold here as well, with temps hovering into the low single didgits at night time.

At any rate, I loved Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I am more then ready for the motorcycleing season, warmer weather and a trip to the beach. I wouldn'/t mind a "haunted roat trip" or two, either.

Mike

[Murfreesboro]

We're really cold, but I wish we could get some snow in TN. I enjoy at least one good snowfall during the season, but we don't always get them.

The winter doldrums can be pretty blah. I try to focus on little markers, like Groundhog Day and Valentines, Mardi Gras and Ash Weds and the run up to Easter. Since my husband and I both sing in the church choir, we are preparing for Easter well in advance of that holiday. Mardi Gras is nothing here in TN, but I try to mark it by making a special cake or something, just as I do on Twelfth Night.

Feb. 2 is kind of interesting. I did some research on it a few years ago, since I had never understood why we even acknowledge Groundhog Day. I learned that it is the mid-point of winter, so that's why the European peasants were so eager to see signs of spring. In the Middle Ages, if the winter were mild, they could start plowing on Feb.2. There was some German tradition about observing the habits of burrowing animals (not groundhogs over there, something different)to try to figure out what the second half of the winter was going to be like.

I also learned that, in Catholic parts of Germany, they keep their Nativity displays up until Feb. 2. I wondered, What's with that? But apparently the Catholic church makes a point of focusing more on Jesus's childhood and youth up to that date. Afterward, it's all about His ministry and the Road to Calvary. It is also a date of special significance in the cult of the Virgin Mary, since it is six weeks after Christmas. At that time, she would have undergone ritual purification for being accepted back into the Temple worship after childbirth. So there is a feast dedicated to her on Feb.2, called Candlemas. I believe that, in the old days, the peasants used to bring their candles to church for a special blessing at that time. (Maybe they had just made a new batch?) And there still are candlelight processions honoring the Virgin in some places on Candlemas, Feb.2. I imagine that must be very pretty to see.

All of this seems to have been built upon some pre-Christian Gaelic celebration called Imbolc, about which I don't know much, except that it had something to do with the birthing of the spring lambs. Imbolc was/is celebrated on Feb. 2.

Not sure if any of this is interesting to anyone other than me. I just thought it was intriguing, to see how our ancestors marked the progressions of the seasons. They were always looking for signs of spring,even in the dead of winter. And if you look for them, you will find them. The quince has already started blooming around here.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Murf, I thought it was very interesting reading, and as a Catholic, I do venorate the Virgin Mary during the Feast of the Amiculate Conception, the Feast of the Annunciation and I also attend a May Crowning Mass every May.

I am praying to God and to Mary that we have another March like we had last year. I saved bookoo bucks on heating bills, and was able to motorcycle to work before Winter was officialy over. The only bas news was that I had to mow the lawn on the day before my St. Patrick's Day dinner because it was almost a foot tall. I had a bunch of these little purple blossems sprout up, and the little kids really had a ball with them. My nephew took my Harley out for a spin, and the rest of that month was amazingly warm.

I'm hoping for a simular situation with the weather for next March, but I won't be suprised if it doesn't happen.

I am also looking forward to the Easter season. My brother is going to be in Las Vegas for that weekend, so my sister and her daughter and possibly one of my brothers is going to come over to my place. I am going to do a fresh ham on the barbecue, with candied yams, corn and esparagas.

Mike