"It's That Time Of The Year To Wish Everyone A... Merry Halloween?"

And so this is Christmas, and what have you done?

It's coming so early, better get yourself some,

And so this is Christmas, we hope you have fun?

The shelves are all shiny, before Halloween's come!

We went to a Cracker Barrel on Saturday to enjoy the rain and share breakfast together without the hassle of the weekday early morning rush. As you enter the store, there are country music sounds complete with twangy gee-tars, whining women singing with accents and, worst yet, whiny men singing like they forgot to take the chaw out of their mouths before rolling the tape. A stunning, purple and gold display beams at you, swearing in this restaurant's allegiance to the local hero, the LSU football team... 

Geaux Tigers!

Off to the right of this football altar, is a Halloween display complete with country-cackling witches with "Minnie Pearl" price tags affixed to their black felt chapeaus and a host of nikki-knack and patti-wack ghouls, goblins and ghosts to frighten the life out of your wallet.

Not wanting you to move one step further to your left, without recognizing it, is a rather sedate display of table cloths, napkins and orange and brown crepe paper florals, chocked full of pumpkins, corny copias, and ceramic sugar and cream gobbler sets. Sitting high atop the display, not unlike "Wolverton Mountain," is the ubiquitous, and cute, Pilgrim dolls, which, holding hands, stare blankly across the general store and "bayou wheat fields" like a nouveaux, 3-D American Gothic.

But the best, sadly enough, was the shiny, tinsel laden display of Christmas. It was just kinda off to the back, lying in wait to pounce on the unsuspecting customers as they waited their turn for a table. At this point, it is a rather humble, insignificant display with a tree just glimmering with sparkly ornaments and stuff. A candy cane here, a silver bell there, and, I guess, a few sugar plums hiding in the mix, somewhere. 

You just know that it is only a matter of time before "Christmas" announces it complete arrival and usurps all the other displays including the, "Ode to LSU Football!"

And, it will happen long before Halloween comes!

Copyright2013/ Ben Bensen III