It's official, Christmas has started!

So in Geelong, the self appointed Christmas Capital of Australia, the Christmas season began with a bang. And a whizz and a few pops.

It is bizarre. There, on the 10th of November, was Santa, and a whole mob of elves prancing around.
And so it will continue until the 25th of December, the true Official Day of Christmas, when it will all abruptly stop. By the 27th, all decorations will have vaporized from the shops.
For the last few years, my parish have had a fun meal celebrating the final and 12th night of Christmas in January, but it took a lot of persuasion for the parish council to agree to celebrate Christmas during Christmas, not in Advent. Previously, they had their Christmas meal in early Dec because "everyone was so busy at Christmas". I politely and firmly changed the date. Result? More people come to enjoy a relaxing time with their friends without the double booking craziness of secular Christmas. It's an all round winner.