advance merry Christmas

Here in the Philippines, Christmas preparations
happen all through the 'BER' months
(you know, SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER, DecemBER)

Yes, that means that on September 1st
the malls are decorated,
you begin hearing Christmas music on the radio
and in the stores,
and taxi drivers and the garbage men begin to greet you with
"Advance Merry Christmas!"

Street vendors walk by our house with holiday decorations for sale

Unlike the U.S., the Philippines has no autumn season -
no falling leaves or cooler temperatures.
There is also no Thanksgiving holiday,
(that's right - school and work as usual on Thanksgiving Day!)
so the fall motif is just not a part of the culture.

More vendors drive by with holiday wares

That means that we move with ease from summer into Christmas.

At least, some do.
A Filipino friend of ours told Mark that his wife had their Christmas tree up in October.

I finally gave in to Michael's consuming wish to decorate our home early.
It's always been our family tradition to decorate on
December 1st, but 'when in Rome...'

So if you come to our front door today, you'll see this...

But we'll save the Christmas tree for December 1st.
I've got to maintain some semblance of family tradition around here...