Belated Holiday Greetings

I like holidays. What is not to like—family, friends, food and drink and general cheerfulness? I like Chinese New Year; I like Thanksgiving, north or south of the Canadian/U.S. border; I even like Easter with its eternal peeps. I cannot however bring myself to enjoy this holiday fast approaching. It is not that I hate turkey; I have eaten one or two excellent ones. It is not that I do not like religious holidays, most of them are. It is not that I do not like the commercialization of it; that is one of the points of having a holiday to begin with. It is the all-consuming nature of this one. My favourite radio station is playing Christmas songs all day long. My television is showing ancient Christmas programmes all day long. When I step outside, it is all Christmas sights, sounds and smells. There is a limit to everything; no matter it is the length, the intensity, the density or even the luminosity, there is a threshold across which enjoyment becomes oppression. My displeasure with this holiday is not with the holiday itself but the late stage of its development—by December, I am have had enough of it. As this is a religious holiday, why can the religious leaders not ordain the holiday season be no more than on week instead of taking up a quarter of a year? Chanukah seems to work so much better.