Last Friday in New York, the cold snapped. It was already mid-October, but that morning felt like the real first day of fall. The humidity was sucked out of the air and what it left behind was deliciously crisp. I fished out tights from the dark recesses of my underwear drawer, kissed my sandals good-bye ’til spring, and made my bed with a quilt.
Getting on the subway felt strange without an icy blast of AC. The people-watching seemed a cut above the usual, as if everyone that day had put on new sweater it was finally, finally cold enough to wear. I got to work in jovial spirits and saw work men outside the building.
They were hanging Christmas lights on the trees lining the Midtown street.
CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTS.
ON THE VERY FIRST COLD- no, not even- FIRST KINDA CHILLY DAY OF THE SEASON.
The workers thought I was a nutter for taking photos, but also got a kick out of it. It wasn’t their choice to hang the lights at such an absurdly premature date!
Can we just have fall for a minute, please? This poor season gets truncated to hell by consumerism and the result it winter feels ENDLESS.
All I want for Christmas is – LESS OF IT. Less Christmas allows the holiday can actually feel special! Wouldn’t that be grand? Is it too much to hope?
Judging by the scene at Rockefeller Center the FIRST WEEK of October, where people were ice skating in SHORTS, yes. Yes, it is too much to hope! I’m a Scrooge for even thinking such thoughts! I better watch out, they’ll start calling me Mary “Spoil Sport” Lane!
Don’t mind me. I’ll just be over here, celebrating the lovely season of fall through November. I hope you’ll join me! You can count on second helpings of allll NYC Christmas clichés the minute the Thanksgiving Tryptophan wears off, I promise!
Do love Christmas as early and often as possible? Do you think fall deserves a chance to shine longer than Halloween? Want to start a boycott of all establishments that play holiday music before Thanksgiving? I’d love to hear any thought’s below, even if it’s to call me Spoil Sport Lane!
