The nights are rapidly drawing in. Jack Frost has paid his first visit of the season, making the roads glisten and the pavements sparkle. The scent of bonfire smoke is dying away, and fireworks no longer (or at least rarely) illuminate the sky. Coke, John Lewis and now Sainsbury's have all started their battle for the crown of the best festive TV ad. The last remnants of autumn have fluttered away, making way for winter.
It can only mean one thing: Christmas is coming.
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The geese are getting ready to start a-laying. The lords are limbering up for their leaping. The ladies are practicing their dance moves. And the turkeys are starting to look worried.
In the past, I've been a passionate member of the Christmas-Mustn't-Be-Allowed-to-Start-Until-December Club. Normally, I'm the first to comment on the fact that it's barely even October before the supermarkets start selling Christmas goodies. And I promise it's not just because I'm one of Scrooge's great-great-grandchildren. Because I'm not. Because Scrooge was fictional. Probably.
Most families have their traditions at Christmas. For some, it's particular activities. For others, it's spending time with particular people or snacking on certain foods. For my family, the tradition (albeit accidentally) seems to have been that Christmas is a bit, well, crap.
Maybe that's not an entirely fair statement to make. Of course, a good number of the 25 Christmases I've lived through so far have been good. I've got lots of fond memories. But it's definitely true to say that a lot of the things that have hit me hardest have happened around Christmas, or not long after. And it usually follows that the more excited I've been getting about Christmas, the more of an anticlimax it's ended up being. So in order to save myself from that kind of disappointment, I've strayed towards the Grinchier end of the spectrum as I've got older.
This year, however, I've decided things will be a bit different. I'm going to break with those traditions.
I'll admit, this 180-degree-turn has partially been influenced by the fact that Rend Collective have (FINALLY) released a Christmas album which, obviously, I had to listen to straight away. It's, like, the law. (It's awesome, by the way. And I'm not being paid to say that. But you really should think about getting a copy). And, of course, the idea of almost two weeks off work sounds pretty good.
More than that, though, I've been thinking. (No, it didn't hurt. Thank you for asking, and stop being cheeky). Last year was a bit of a turning point for me. Facing the prospect of the first Christmas without dad, I knew it would be particularly hard. So I made a conscious effort to focus on the part that doesn't - that can't - disappoint. The first syllable. It helped that (in a moment of lunacy) I'd volunteered to lead worship at our church's carol service, so I'd spent quite a long time poring over carols and other festive tunes a decent way in advance.
That was when the magnitude of the story really hit me for the first time. I'd always sort of understood its significance; why it was important in the church calendar and blah blah blah. I'd understood what the cross meant for me, for us. But somehow I hadn't quite connected the two together. When I thought about that, how Christmas was just the beginning of that incredible story, it made me think about it in a completely different way. The beautiful, poetic lyrics to those ancient carols made a whole lot more sense. For the first time in my life, I felt able to worship to Christmas carols, rather than just singing along.
My challenge this festive season is this: What if we all really thought about the words we're singing? What if, when we sang "All glory be to God on high", we really meant it? And if we really mean it, why does it have to just be confined to December? Do we really have to wait for the last page on the calendar before we celebrate the start of the incredible story of Jesus' time on earth? Really?
Before you start panicking, I'm not advocating celebrating Christmas all year round. I love the fact that we have a time of year where we particularly focus on the birth of Jesus, and what it means. But I think, given the story, it's fine to get excited about it a little bit early. I also think it's fine if you want to save it for December
Just please don't kill anyone else's joy, OK?
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