Christmas comes (too bloody) early

Let me start off by saying that according to our schedule for this year, I was supposed to be writing the endpiece for the December issue. I already had in mind a quick and easy text about Santa, Christmas decorations and the snow - and how much we had all longed to see this. It was to be a concise piece about what we were hoping to find under the Christmas tree and it would have simply written itself… if it was going to appear in the December issue. So when I heard that my column had been moved to November instead, I was hit by a wave of panic. How could I write about Christmas in that month’s issue?? I needed to think up something else and get it written out QUICK! You’re not allowed to do stuff like this to me, Mr Editor! [My apologies, but sometimes such things can’t be avoided – Ed.] However, it turns out that I needn’t have despaired. Walking round my local shops at the end of October convinced me that the subject of the Christmas season &ndas