It’s too early for Christmas music.

Yeah, I’m one of those “wait-till-December” girls. You won’t hear Christmas carols in my Jeep until December the first. Deal with it. After Halloween ends, it seems like the whole world is gearing up for the holiday season. Christmas decorations, wrapping paper sales, the whole nine yards – what happened to good ol’ fall? Pumpkin patches, leaf piles, apple picking – it’s as if the end of Halloween marks the death of fall, even though November’s just begun. I don’t want to be hearing Mariah Carey’s Christmas album before I go vote in my local election. I don’t want to feel trapped by a wall of Christmas shoppers before I’ve planned my Thanksgiving menu. I don’t want to lose out on this wonderful time of the year that happens right before the “most wonderful.”

Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas music. All kinds, too – after December 1^st, you can catch me humming along to the radio or practicing Handel’s Messiah, or trying to create a quartet to go caroling with. As a music major, I usually start learning Christmas music at the beginning of the year – no biggie, because it’s a rehearsal. But hearing it everywhere outside of rehearsal, before Thanksgiving? To me, it doesn’t feel festive anymore.

November is too early for Christmas music.

I don’t want to think about the coldness of winter when there are still leaves falling from the trees. I don’t want to think about wrapping presents and getting each one exactly right, when I could be thinking about Pumpkin Spice chai lattes or boot socks that won’t get wet. I want to walk through an autumn rain, not a December snow. Good God, it’s too darn early to hang up Christmas lights when there is such pretty fall foliage to see!

Who could skip by the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, or wearing cozy sweaters before everything must be covered by a chunky jacket or scarf? Who wants to skip past leaf piles and dive right into the slush that is January? Who wants to jump past getting together with loved ones and eating so much you fall asleep immediately after? What’s wrong with fall?

Alas, I have chosen the life of a musician, and therefore am not as lucky as others. I start off singing Christmas music before all the leaves have fallen. I once rehearsed the high melodies of Handel’s Messiah just as the clocks change, driving myself to the next town over along the darkest of back roads. There’s nothing quite like sitting in front of the fireplace with Christmas carols plays. I get that.

But it’s too darn early for Christmas music! I don’t know how people throw away one of the best parts of the year to some commercialized beast. I would have a different perspective if the season was all about giving and kindness, but we all know that isn’t what Christmas is about anymore. Now, the music just seems to mark a beginning of a season that starts too early and ends too late. It’s too early for Christmas music. We’re not ready for that season yet. Let us savor what we have and be thankful, before commercialism steps in and tears it all down.