November.
~ugh~
Cool, overcast, rainy, wet snow, miserable and dark.
A sunny month can make all the difference but for now we seem to be stuck in the midst of dull grey. This is when I hear- "This is exactly what the west coast is like. Would you want to live there?"
Yes!
Chances are there will be no snow whereas here in Central Ontario, we are all waiting for that dreaded first snowstorm when the white stuff stays on the ground until next April- or heaven forbid- May!! Some mornings I am afraid to open the shutters.
We have to make sure that we keep busy this month. Have coffee with friends. Go to a show- "live" theatre, it's the best! Get out for a walk in the crisp air or at the very least soggy, damp miserable air.
Now as you may know, I operate two online radio stations- Swisssh and Starlite. Every year both stations switch to all Christmas Music- usually about the end of November. However, I was reading this article on just how many stations and how "early" many stations start to play Holiday Music. One station in the article started Holiday Music two weeks before Hallowe'en.
Yikes!
The station programmes "easy listening" music the rest of the year. Not soft and beautiful like Starlite but a notch or two up tempo. Not as much new music as Swisssh has been playing the past year and a bit but relatively adult oriented. Your Michael Buble, Bette Midler etc.
The station manager says in the interview that he starts getting e-mails and Facebook comments in October asking when the Holiday Hits will begin. He says Holiday Music is like comfort food. You know- Macaroni and Cheese only Let it Snow and It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas.
Their ratings- apparently, go skyway.
This I believe.
In a few days after Swisssh and Starlite's programming goes all Christmas- all the time, our listener numbers double and triple. I'm sure we loose a few regulars who feel it's just too damn early but those seeking comfort and happy thoughts to banish the dull days of November, dig right in and ring those bells and really what and who does it hurt?
If happy, snow-filled, bell jingling, carol singing music does the trick, keeps people happy and not depressed- what's the harm? One trip around WalMart, Canadian Tire, Sears or Hudson's Bay- not to forget the Dollar Stores, tell us the Holiday Season is here.
I admit.
I have bought a couple of Christmas decorations already including a set of Edison Christmas lamps. They look like they belong on Murdoch Mysteries. Long, lean and vintage looking. I can't wait to hang them on the front verandah.
I'm not saying my stations will go all Christmas today or tomorrow but once the Toronto Santa Claus Parade, the Orillia Santa Claus Parade and the Markham Home for the Holidays Show are in full swing, my tinsel gets itchy. I start humming Frosty the Snowman and one day I say "what the heck" and throw in a couple of "wintry type" songs. Then one morning I say I flip the switch and it's all Holiday Music All the time right through to the New Year- give or take a day or two.
Forget about how miserable November can be some years and set your sites on a long Holiday Season. You'll need to stockpile all that cheer because January and February is in our future dammit.
Let me be the first to say happy holidays.
Note that for now I keep that wish in small letters but one of these days...
BAM!
