McDonnell Planetarium’s Christmas Ribbon

Thanksgiving’s frenetic feasting is behind us now. All that’s left are the leftovers. So, with a clear conscience, we can dive into the Christmas season. Today, Black Friday is the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season. Since Thanksgiving came as early as it can this year, we will have a longer than usual holiday season. Still, it was not long enough for some merchants. Both Walmart and Target led the charge on so-called Grey Thursday. No longer content to incite to riot in the wee hours of Black Friday’s morning, they simply jumped the shark and opened on Thanksgiving. Christmas creep has gobbled up the turkey. Starbucks rolled out their holiday decorations the day after Halloween. Sears had artificial Christmas trees for sale on Labor Day. ‘Tis the season for run amok marketing and consumerism.

Today, all these excesses are in the past. Let the cash registers ring. Every time a cash register rings, an angle gets its wings. Shop ‘til you drop. Buy! Buy! Buy! Ignore the mutterings of a stingy old Ebenezer like me. You’re doing the patriotic thing. You are restoring our economy. Just beware of the rum-pum-pum-pum of the little drummer boy. He’s waiting for you out there. He may be right around the next corner, or maybe he’ll wait. He can afford to be patient this year. He has lot’s of time to get you.

I elected to eschew the holiday season, at least for one more day. Maybe it was my inner Scrooge, but no, it is still too early for me. I went for another bicycle ride in the park, hence the planetarium picture. The park was much quieter than yesterday. A stiff north wind stirred up the leaves and drove everyone else to the malls.