Suzanne_Marques's Blog

This morning, I stepped onto my front porch and saw a small swarm of gnats circling over my Jack O' Lantern. He hadn't looked that bad the night before. I admit, his bright eyes and toothy grin had turned into a sad frown and mushy underbite, but I thought he was just coming into his own personality.

Upon closer inspection, I realized dear old Jack was rotten and had truly given up the ghost. I couldn't bring myself to do it, so my husband tossed him into the trash bin, my first step in giving up Halloween.

It takes baby steps. My Halloween lights are still circling my front lawn. Skulls, pumpkins, and purple and orange twinkle lights greet our neighbors every night. They make me happy, but I'm sure the folks in the neighborhood worry if we're one of "those people" who leave up Christmas lights until July.

Am I the only person who gets sad with the passing of each holiday?

This is truly my favorite time of year. Yes, it is still 80 degrees outside and we can all wear shorts. To those who grew up in other parts of the country, the changing of the seasons is marked by leaves turning beautiful shades of red and orange, or snow on rooftops, or that snow melting and the first sprouts of grass.

That's just not what So Cal is about. As a child growing up in Downey, my family marked the changing of the seasons with decorations! Valentine's Day, 4th of July. I looked forward to the time of year when my mother and I would haul out big boxes of dusty Halloween decorations from the garage. We'd get out the same old skeleton, paper pumpkins, plastic bats. To me, that marked the official start of Fall.

It's interesting to already see Christmas decorations in stores. Some people gripe that it's too early. Others ask, what about Thanksgiving? Why don't they put out decorations for that? My favorite part of Thanksgiving is the lack of pressure. No need to decorate, buy gifts, send cards. I love being with family or friends, being thankful for what we have and - most importantly - shamelessly stuffing our faces together.

Don't get me wrong. Christmas is by far my favorite. Last year, when I was living alone in Atlanta, I bought my Christmas tree in August. I bought it online - Ebay of course. It was white plastic and reminded me of something from the sixties. Once it arrived in the mail, I put it up. I even played Christmas carols to set the mood. On my down time, I would scour the web for retro ornaments to match my throwback tree.

It took me a while to realize why, but it slowly came to me that in Atlanta, it was 50 and 60 degrees in August. That doesn't usually happen until late November or December here. The cooler weather put me in the mood. I'm sure being homesick had a hand in it too. :)

This year, it's the first time in about five years that I'll be celebrating the holidays with my family. Maybe that's why I'm having a hard time giving up Halloween. It's like the perfect dessert after you've been craving it all week. I'm savoring it, it's just as delicious as I thought it would be, and I don't want it to end.