Laurie Mustard / Winnipeg Free Press
Susan Brennand’s Santa-ready masterpiece is standing tall.
Christmas is pretty in pink in Brennand’s front window, with a Blue Bombers topper!
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, way too early!
Yes? No?
I do like Christmas, and enjoy having a tree, but I think it should go up Christmas Eve, and come down Boxing Day. Done.
I asked a few friends their feelings on the matter, and it appears I’m radically in the minority.
The question: “Who has their tree up and house already decorated like it’s Christmas Eve, and why?”
My good friend Susan Brennand wanted to be sure I understood her sentiments.
Susan: “Oh hell yes!!!”
My, how Christmassy! Susan, like so many of you, is one of those people who absolutely loves the Christmas season, and embraces it with every ounce of her being.
The trees and decorations go up immediately following Remembrance Day, this year a little more quickly due to the forced labour lovingly enticed from her partner Kelly Maartense, who set the trees up. She takes it from there.
Susan tells me it took her “all weekend” to fully decorate the nine-foot artificial tree new to her home this year, which looks fabulous by the way, and then the pink tree she has on display in a window up front.
The pink tree embodies two of her most fervent passions, Christmas of course, and her fan-atical devotion to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, which explains the mini-Big Blue helmet adorning the top of the tree. Spectacular. GO BLUE!
At least Susan eventually takes her stuff down. There are those who leave at least a token Christmas presence happening all year round.
One of them being (I got a few who do something like this), Carol Anne Barker:
“My formal living room has stayed as my Christmas Retreat for several years now. 365. My close friend has done the same with her living room.”
Wow. I’m not even that addicted to old cars!
Karla Weiss Elcock shares Susan’s Christmas passion, but compromises a bit on the tree.
Karla: “I do. I go all out with Christmas decor. Not the tree. That doesn’t happen until two-ish weeks before. It’s 30 years of collecting. It takes me several days and it’s everywhere in my house. I do it because it gets everyone in a festive mood. I have to work hard to embrace winter and so at the time when I used to be so bummed about the long winter and less daylight…I focus on the beautiful, shiny, Christmassy things.”
No doubt about Colleen Titanich: “Me! I do, I do!”
Kathleen Leclair: “I do! We love the pretty colours and the festive feeling!”
And understandably, many people can relate to Kim Kreitz-Raynaud’s motivation:
“Mine is. Been a rough year with family illness and loss. Two teenage nieces asked to help me put mine up, so a little early but worth every moment with them and my children doing it.”
Absolutely. Hope it helps.
Then there are those who are just Christmas addicts. I’ve had a number of people tell me they know someone who leaves their tree up year-round. I haven’t had anyone confess directly to that, although I did get the following ‘ho ho ho’ from Geoff Fierce: “You mean I was supposed to take it all down from last Christmas??”
I suppose it’s possible that he’s kidding.
I was also happy to receive a few responses reflecting a slightly more practical approach to the Christmas season, and even a few friends and colleagues that join me in the Bah Humbug zone.
Marc LaBossiere: “Not before December hits in my house.”
Cheryl Bently: “Not until December. If you put everything out too early it becomes normalized and sucks the spirit out of it. If it’s every day it’s not special. I even hid the Christmas CDs at work because people were starting to play them. Arghhh!”
My hero!
Then from my artiste extraordinaire friend Deborah Elizabeth: “Nope, nope, and NOPE!!”
Whatever turns your crank kids. Merry Christmas!
Comments and column ideas always welcome!
lmustard1948@gmail.com
