Merry Christmas, already?!?

I love Christmas, in fact it is my favorite holiday, and not because of presents and cookies (although those don't really hurt any). I love the music (well, the sacred music more than the silly, inane pop songs), the feeling of the season, and giving gifts. That said, I don't like Christmas before Thanksgiving, before Advent starts. The season has its place, and by not starting too early, I can stand the decorations, songs and whatnot for the entire season. Retailers, however, do not seem to see things my way. The Wegman's that we shop at has had fake Christmas trees on sale for several weeks. Today, Halloween, when I went to get some candy for tonight, I was lucky to find any - most of it had been removed in favor of Christmas candy. Honestly, can't they wait one more day, at least, so that it is November? And then I found this article in the NYTimes about how WalMart is going to jump-start the season by having its first big sale this weekend, instead of waiting until the day after Thanksgiving. C'mon! This is just encouraging rampant consumerism and obscuring any redeeming values of the season. Even if you aren't religious, Christmas ought to be about peace on earth and goodwill toward men, not shopping 'til you are so in debt you are in danger of losing your house!