40 Days Til Christmas. Ugh.

I went to my local neighborhood Super Wal-Mart today. I've been seeing Salvation Army bell ringers for about a week now.

Today I walked into Wal-Mart and was assaulted by a sound I dread every year. Christmas music. It felt time warpy. But also put me in some sort of momentary odd wistful mood.

And then as I was leaving the store, near the exit, I saw something that appalled me. My first Christmas tree of the year. A real big one with real big balls.

The most appalling thing about the Christmas tree was not the real big balls. It was what was also hung on the tree.

An electronic sign counting down the "Days Til Christmas". As in the sign on the Christmas tree said "40 Days Til Christmas".

Ugh.