Dare I switch up holiday traditions?

It’s the time of year again for that great debate: Is it OK to gear up for Christmas before Thanksgiving is even celebrated?

I’ve long been a believer that the Christmas decorations, the yard inflatables and even any conversations about gifts must stay on hold until after the turkey has been cooked, carved and consumed.

Steadfast in my ways, it just seemed to make sense to me. Enjoy one before you move on to the next. Call it tradition.

However, on Thanksgiving Day this year, I heard what might be the best reasoning to switch gears and (perhaps) allow the tree and trimmings to come before the Tryptophan. And it came in a sports analogy — all the better.

I caught the following soliloquy on one of the NFL pregame shows on T-Giving morning: If you gear up for Christmas early on, then treat Thanksgiving as halftime. That way you can eat up, get your fill, regroup and then finish strong as you work toward the arrival of Christmas.

Kinda makes sense, I guess.

It quickly harkened me back to a conversation a friend of mine and I had back when I lived in Vegas and another friend who was visiting from out of town said, “I could never live here; you don’t have four seasons.” My buddy — a huge NFL fan and avid bettor — quickly defended the desert saying, “Sure we do: The pre-season, regular season, post-season and off-season.”

But, back to the Thanksgiving vs. Christmas quandary.

Before I had even left to go to work this past Friday — one day post-Thanksgiving Day — my wife, Tina, had begun to take down the cornucopias and turkey-related decorations from around the house. The boxes of Christmas ornaments and related gear weren’t far behind, emerging from the garage before the sun set later in the day.

That’s the way it’s been, seemingly for every Thanksgiving/Christmas season for our 19-plus years of marriage.

But dare I say that 2018 could be different?

So, for at least one more year, I’ll be spending time in the front yard mapping out a game plan today for the blow-up Santa, Snoopy and friends. It’ll all come to fruition over the course of the next few days.

Next year, we’ll just have to see whether everything makes an earlier-than-usual appearance.

Rob Langrell is the publisher of The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact him at: [email protected]