More than a month ahead of schedule, one of the richest neighborhoods in Texas is fully in the Christmas spirit. But I’m definitely not.

On a recent Monday, shortly after pulling an all-nighter covering a protest, I woke up at 3 p.m. and looked out the window of my River Oaks apartment (no, I’m not wealthy) to see workers wrapping lamp posts in tinsel and ribbons. I checked the calendar, and no, my eyes did not deceive me. It was Oct 21.

If you woke up a patient from a years-long coma and dropped them in River Oaks, would they be aware of that? Probably not. Already, the neighborhood has put up its massive Christmas display. Drive down Westheimer through Highland Village, and you’re treated to the bright white lights adorning the shopping district’s famous palm trees. The medians have been adorned with bows and candy canes, and slowly but surely, the public halls are being decked with boughs of holly.

I love Christmas. I love decorating my tree and making hot chocolate and wearing ugly sweaters and bumping the Bing Crosby Christmas songs. I love gift giving and listening to A Charlie Brown Christmas on repeat and watching The Grinch and all that. Still, I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, dear reader, but it is also still at least 80 degrees outside nearly every single day here in Houston. I’ve lived in Texas long enough to know that even when it cools off this time of year, a Lone Star State autumn doesn’t really start until at least Halloween, and at this point, I don’t wear anything with sleeves regularly until January.

Yes, Christmas starting too early is not a new complaint. Since time immemorial, people have complained and moaned about Christmas starting earlier and earlier. This year, I noticed that the Halloween decor went up at H-E-B in August, and I assume it will be gone before Halloween. I can already see the beginnings of corporate Christmas arriving. You know the signs, too. Christmas ornaments and other decorations begin appearing in the seasonal aisle at the grocery store. Week by week, they creep ever closer to prominence until they fully overtake Halloween or Thanksgiving stuff. (Does anyone even celebrate Thanksgiving anymore? It sure doesn’t feel like it sometimes.) It seems that it’s widely accepted that Christmas now starts on November 1, although I swear to God that Mariah Carey posts that video declaring Christmas is here earlier each year.

But can we in Houston get some sort of exemption? Is there anybody on our City Council who will step in and stop Christmas Creep?

I cannot entertain making the Yuletide Gay when I still feel like I’m walking into a sauna as I go to take the trash out. I would at least like to keep the pretense that Halloween is almost here. It’s too hot and it’s too early, and quite honestly, I don’t think I’m emotionally ready to think about Christmas yet. Although the Monopoly Men and Women of River Oaks still appear to be going all out for Halloween, it does feel muted this year. I’ve noticed that some of the McMansions that are normally decorated with the expensive Spirit Halloween gear are opting out of Halloween this year. Honestly, I can’t blame them.

Perhaps I’m just getting old. I have to remember that I’m no longer in my early 20s and I’m now firmly in my mid-20s. Maybe I’m just beginning to feel the passage of time more acutely than I used to. Perhaps it is weighing on me more as of late. But I also know I’m not insane.

Houston, we do have a problem: it is far too early for Christmas, and yet we’re barging right into it anyway.

More Culture

Merch | H-E-B’s latest t-shirt collab was a disaster
Drama | Houston billboard lawyer ousts partner, adds new one with similar name
Super Bowl | Petition calls for Texas country icon to take halftime show
History | This 1995 flick almost derailed Matthew McConaughey’s career

For the latest and best from Chron, sign up for our daily newsletter here.

This article originally published at Houston, it’s way too early think about Christmas. Can we not?.